Little Lemmings
by EmberMountains
Summary: Newt told Tina that people change, and change often happens in little moments that may be hard to notice. Leta Lestrange wasn't always a Lestrange. To Newt, she had just been Leta, until the day she wasn't.
1. First Year

_Welcome everyone!_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world._

 **First Year**

 **Hogwarts Express**

He had not always loved Leta Lestrange. In the beginning, Newton Scamander barely even noticed her.

Newt's mother, her shoulders still covered in the downy feathers of the new born hippogriff at home, kissed his forehead goodbye the day Newt boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

"I packed you a sandwich," his mother said. "Now don't be nervous. Hogwarts is where you meet friends who will be with you your whole life. All First Years get lost in the castle, so explore this year while you have an excuse. Your father and I will write to you, and you can always go to your brother, Theseus, for help."

Theseus had already given their mother a cheerful goodbye kiss and had disappeared onto the train by the time Newt had stopped gawking in awe of the red shiny paint. Gathering his new trunk and wrapping an arm around Mittens's cage, Newt stepped for the first time onto the Hogwarts Express, waved goodbye to his mom, and started his way down the crowded train to find his brother. His heart ran wild in his chest, as excitement and fear of dropping Mittens mixed and mingled together. The kitten made an unhappy noise from her cage in Newt's arm.

"Just a moment, Mitts," Newt said, softly. "Then I will let you out."

Theseus poked his head out from one of the compartments. He had already dressed into his Gryffindor robes.

"Thought I heard you," Theseus said. "Need some help?"

Newt nodded, and Theseus took the new unscratched truck and lifted it easily up into the storage bin of the compartment. Newt peered around at Theseus's friends. There were many of them. Theseus had always been popular. A girl who had been pulling out her Ravenclaw robes frowned at him.

"You want your First Year brother to join with us?"

A boy with a Slytherin scarf whacked her shoulder. "Don't be rude."

At the same time, Theseus responded, "Of course. Newt, this is everyone. Everyone, this is Newt."

Newt took a seat in a open spot at the corner, Mittens's cage in his lap. Theseus's friends had already moved onto a new topic. Theseus sat across from him, and leaned forward. Whispering, he asked, "Are you sure you don't want to find some other First Years? Start making friends before we get to school?"

Newt nervously played with Mittens's cage and shook his head. He couldn't meet his brother's steady gaze. Theseus had always been brave and outspoken, ready to make friends with strangers.

"Okay then," Theseus said brightly. "You can let her out now, by the way."

Newt immediately let his cat out of the cage. Mittens, a small black cat with white paws, stretched and roamed around the compartment before returning to Newt's lap and curling up to take a nap.

That was when the compartment door swung open, and Newt saw Leta Lestrange for the first time. Dressed in First Year robes, her dark skin glowing and her black hair pulled over a shoulder, she froze in the doorway.

"Just looking for a place to sit," she said, already backing out of the doorway. "Sorry."

The older students didn't pay her any mind, and Newt returned his attention to Mittens.

* * *

 **September**

The boys in his dormitory did not like him. Newt blamed himself. He had let his nerves get the best of him the first week of school and he hadn't been able to change their opinion of him since. Sick with excitement and nerves, Newt hadn't been able to get himself to talk that first night in the common room while his Hufflepuff house members greeted and hugged one another, and then in the dormitory he had half hidden himself behind the cozy yellow curtains than hung around his bed, only joining into the conversation once to ramble about a secret passage way Theseus had mentioned until he looked up to see the odd looks on the other boys' faces, and trailed off.

Darren Mullen, the boy who had the bed closest to Newt's, had smiled kindly before returning the conversation to the topic it had been at before Newt had started rambling.

Mittens purred in his lap as the other boys bonded.

In classes, Darren was kind enough to make a point to sit by Newt, as if trying to keep him included, but he always ended up talking to the other Hufflepuffs in the classroom. Eventually, Darren stopped trying to force Newt into the group dynamic.

"He is annoying," whispered Sophia, a pretty and well liked First Year who Darren admired. She hadn't realized Newt was walking behind her, and Newt's face burned red when he realized she was talking about him. "He can't look me in the eye when he is talking and it creeps me out. What is he looking at?"

"I think he is just shy," Darren whispered back.

"Shy?" Sophia huffed. "He random goes off about different types of eggshells or feathers."

"Maybe he should have been in Ravenclaw? Doesn't mean he is annoying," Darren said.

"Please, the Ravenclaw students don't like him either."

"Only because he outsmarted Gwen Edwards in Transfiguration last week and stole her praise from Professor Dumbledore. We have more points than Ravenclaw at the moment because of him."

Despite Darren defending Newt, Darren stopped trying to include him in the group after talking with Sophia. Newt then developed a bad habit of turning red every time he could feel Sophia looking at him. One day he caught her whispering about him in the common room, and he fled to finish his work somewhere else.

"It's just your nerves."

Newt looked up from where he had been sitting alone in the library, his homework out in front of him. The girl from the train, Leta Lestrange, was standing in front of his table. He glanced back down at his open books. Mittens was circling around his ankles and purring.

"Everyone gets nervous," Leta continued, seemingly un-phased by Newt's inability to hold her gaze for long. "You just let it run through you a little too long. The trick is to not let it settle."

She turned to leave, clearly satisfied that she had made her point.

"How can I do that?" Newt asked. Leta turned back around the face him again. "Not let it settle, I mean."

Leta struggled. "Guess it would depend on what is making you nervous."

And with that, Leta strolled away, her green Slytherin robes gliding behind her.

* * *

 **October**

Newt started spending meals at the Gryffindor table, sitting beside his brother. The Ravenclaw girl who had been on the train, Stacy Lee, was Theseus's new girlfriend, and she scowled at Newt during the Halloween feast when Theseus left the table to search for sugar pumpkins.

"Do you really have to sit with us every day," Stacy asked, a forced kindness in her voice. "I would appreciate it if I could have one meal alone with my boyfriend before the end of the year." Then she muttered to herself. "It's annoying."

Newt stopped sitting at the Gryffindor table after that, and changed the subject when Theseus found him on the moving staircases weeks later asking if something was wrong.

* * *

 **November**

Hufflepuffs shared Flying period with the Slytherins – a recent change, as there had been an incident between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors the week before - and it snowed for the first time for the year that morning. Professor Smith had just been explaining how to keep your balance and your speed on an eighty degree turn when one of the students yelled out with excitement about the snow. The rest of the class was gone within seconds, as most students jumped off their brooms to play with the snow. Newt stayed on his broom, studying how his classmates affected one another. One person would start catching snowflakes with their tongue, and then it would ripple through the class until everyone was doing the same. Then another person would try gathering enough snow to make a snowball, and that would ripple through the class, too.

Leta Lestrange was suddenly by his side, steady on her own broom.

"What are you watching?" she asked.

"The pattern," Newt said, then pointed to a Slytherin boy who had started to roll on the lightly frosted ground. "Look."

Sure enough, within moments everyone was rolling on the ground. Professor Smith looked tired and stopped trying to regain the attention of the class.

Leta laughed, and Newt blinked, finally looking over at her. She had a nice laugh, one that was both airy and rich.

"You're funny," she said. "And right, they are like echoes of each other's actions."

"Echoes or lemmings," Newt said, and when Leta frowned at him he added, "Lemmings are little rodents that are known for fallowing one another off cliffs."

"Lemmings," Leta said, as if trying the word in her mouth. "Little lemmings."

* * *

 **December**

"Are you going home over winter break?" Leta asked.

"Yeah," Newt answered absentmindedly, still staring up at the ceiling of the Great Hall that showed the snowing sky. "My mum says the young hippogriff is starting to learn to fly."

"Oh, okay," Leta said. "Sounds good."

Leta had been joining Newt during meals at the Hufflepuff table for about a month, and Newt couldn't help but think that he was starting to know her well enough to know when she said things she didn't mean.

"Aren't you going home?" Newt asked.

Leta shrugged. "Don't know, my family hasn't said anything."

According to rumor, the Lestrange family was, well, strange. Darren had turned to Newt one night in the dormitory to warn him to be careful, hanging out with a Lestrange girl. Newt had shrugged in return. He was starting to feel comfortable around Leta. Almost like she was a friend.

"Maybe they haven't said anything because they assumed you are coming home," Newt offered.

Mittens jumped into the empty seat next to Newt, and Leta reached over the table to scratch the cat behind her ear.

"Maybe," Leta said.

A shadow pasted over Newt, and he looked behind himself to find Sophia frowning at him.

"Please get your cat away from the food," she said, before continuing down the table to where most of the First Year Hufflepuff girls sat.

Leta picked up a bread roll and threw it at Sophia's retreating back. The bread roll missed.

"Don't do that," Newt said.

Leta winked. "Do what?"

* * *

 **January**

Theseus once again helped Newt carry his trunk onto the Hogwarts Express. Winter break was over; it was time to return to school.

"Want to join my compartment?" Theseus asked.

The thought of being stuck in a small space with Stacy, Theseus's current girlfriend, curled Newt's stomach.

"I'd said I'd meet a friend," Newt said.

Theseus's face brightened, obviously happy at Newt admitting that he had a friend.

Leta sat alone in a compartment near the back of the train. When Newt opened the door to step inside, she looked up from her book, blinked at him, and then sprang to give him a very tight hug. Newt's face burned, although he didn't know why.

"I'm so happy to see a happy face," said Leta. "There were not many happy faces that were actually happy at home."

Finally, Leta let go, and they sat down. Newt let Mitts out of her cage to roam around the compartment.

"What happened at home?"

Leta rolled her eyes. "Apparently, there was a false rumor that someone in the family was going to marry a Half-blood. It ruined Mum and Dad's moods the whole break, even though the rumor wasn't true. How was the newly flying hippogriff–"

The compartment door suddenly opened, and Theseus appeared at the doorway.

"Newt, did Stacy ever say something rude to you?"

Newt had a hard time meeting his brother's gaze, his face felt warm once again.

* * *

 **February**

The older Hufflepuff girls had a sudden interest in being friendly with Newt in the common room once the news that Theseus Scamander had broken up with his girlfriend because she was rude to his little brother became common knowledge. Newt had to admit, it was nice to have housemates greet him in the morning. One of the Fifth Year girls even chased after him in the hallway to return a dropped quill one afternoon when Newt was walking with Theseus.

"It's Newton, right?" the girl asked, handing over the quill.

Newt nodded. "Newt. Thank you."

The girl shrugged. "No problem." She smiled prettily at Theseus, turned, and left.

"Wow, being related with me really put you on the map," Theseus said. "You're welcome."

Theseus was always joking about his status. It was, Newt considered, one of the things that made him popular: his non-caring if he was popular. Between Theseus's not caring if people liked him or not, and between Leta's not caring if people liked her family or not, Newt was beginning to understand what it meant to settle his nerves. People seemed to like people who didn't care whether or not you liked them, and even if that wasn't true, at the very least you wouldn't worry about it. It was better not to worry. Being nervous had never helped Newt in the past.

With his broom over his shoulder, Theseus led Newt out of the castle and towards the Quidditch Pitch. It was Theseus's second year playing as a Beater for the Gryffindor team, and Newt liked to watch the team practice. The Gryffindor team captain, a Seventh Year named Kwame Karey, didn't care that a "little Hufflepuff punk" was watching practice because Kwame believed that "the Hufflepuff team couldn't beat us even if they did know our plays."

Newt would have never told on his brother's team, anyway. Kwame's strategies were never spoken outside of practice. At least not by Newt or not by Newt's knowledge.

"Speaking of girls," Theseus said, as they neared the Quidditch Pitch, "You are still young enough that you consider them gross, right?"

"You can keep all your fans to yourself, if that is what you are worried about," Newt replied.

Theseus laughed. "But what about the Lestrange girl, just friends? Or is it a crush."

"Just friends."

"Thank Merlin," Theseus muttered, then added when he saw the look on Newt's face, "Not because she is a Lestrange, but because I think I might die the day my little brother starts walking down the hallways hand-in-hand with a girl."

"You and Stacy used to hold hands all the time."

"Don't remind me," Theseus groaned. "I can't believe it took me months to notice she was mean."

"Well, you were put in Gryffindor," Newt said. "Brave, not bright."

Theseus punched him hard in the shoulder.

* * *

 **April**

Leta's laugh was light and carefree.

"These are so weird! I love them."

Newt smiled to himself, watching her through his overgrown hair as she took another bit of the chocolate Easter egg. His mom had sent both him and Theseus chocolate eggs, and Newt had pasted one over his breakfast plate towards Leta's without thinking twice. It wasn't until Leta had frozen and looked at him suspiciously that Newt had guessed that her family had never sent her an Easter egg.

"Take another," Newt said. Leta reached over and took two more, stuffing them into her bag.

"Mum says chocolate makes your magic weak, but these are so good that I don't care," Leta said, her mouth full.

"Chocolate doesn't affect you magic. Although I did hear Professor Dumbledore tell a Six Year in the hallway that it helps you feel better after being near a Dementor."

Leta arched a questioning eyebrow. "I doubt a piece of food, even one as good as this, could make you feel better after you around a Dementor. You shouldn't believe everything Dumbledore says."

* * *

 **May**

Mittens's did not want to get into her cage.

"Come on, Mitts, you'll make me late for the train," Newt said, trying to reach to where the black cat had crawled under his bed. "It's time to go home now. Come on."

Darren knocked on the dormitory door to get Newt's attention. "What's the holdup mate? Don't want to be late."

Darren had referred to Newt as "mate" before, and it took Newt by surprise every time, considered the two barely spoke to each other on a day to day basic.

"It's Mitts, she doesn't like her cage."

Darren sighed and jogged over. Together, they were able to corner Mittens, and Newt carefully put her in her cage.

"Thanks," Newt said.

By then Darren was panting and sweaty. "No problem. Nice to have a workout before sitting on a train all day."

Newt nodded. Together, the two boys left the dormitory.

"Can I ask you something?" Darren asked, as they walked through the castle.

"Yes."

"Are the Lestranges really, you know, _strange_?"

Newt shrugged. "Don't know. I've only ever met Leta. She isn't strange."

They walked in silence for a while. They left the castle, walked across the grounds, and were in line to board the Hogwarts Express before Darren spoke again.

"Hey Newt, from one Hufflepuff to another, don't let your loyalty to your friends keep you from seeing who your friends really are."

"Leta isn't strange."

Darren placed a hand on Newt's shoulder. "Maybe."


	2. Second Year - Part One

_Hello everyone! Here is chapter two. I've been a little hesitant to write for the Harry Potter world, because I feel as if I can never get an Englishness into my voice as a writer, but then I realized that (hopefully) what makes a good story is the story. So I just decided to go for it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, as always feel free to leave constructive criticism._

 **Second Year – Part One**

 **August**

Newt had not heard from Leta once during the summer. He tried not to dwell on it, yet found himself staying up long hours into the night fighting to get to sleep. He had written her many times during the break, and when he heard nothing back, he went to his mum.

"She might be busy on a trip with her family," she said, her brow pulled together as she bent over herself to pull a thorn out of a hippogriff's hoof. "I'm sure she will write you back when she has time."

Still, Newt felt odd the rest of the summer. At random moments, he would turn away from what he was doing as if to write something down he wanted to tell Leta, and stop himself. He found himself doing this when Beaks, the youngest hippogriff in his mother's flock, went through his second molt and started to become one of the smoothest flyers Newt had ever seen. He almost did it when he thought he saw a brownie disappear around a corner in his house with the broken clock one early morning when he went downstairs for a glass of water. Or when he finished all his summer homework and wanted to know what Leta's thoughts were on the reading Professor Binns had given them about the history of giants in wars.

"Just distract yourself and you'll feel better," Theseus said. "It will be September before you know it."

Newt spent the rest of his summer helping his mother with the hippogriffs, playing one-on-one Quidditch with Theseus, trying to find where the brownie who had fixed the clock lived inside his house, and pretending not to dread about going back to Hogwarts to find that he once again had no one.

Theseus's friends often sent him letters or came over for a day to fly around on brooms. There was a new girl, a sweet but sarcastic Gryffindor named Sy'Nia West, who Theseus fancied, and she came over about once a week to practice her Keeper skills. Sy'Nia's parents were both muggles, and she admitted to Newt once that she was afraid she would get kicked off the Quidditch Team because she couldn't practice over breaks. Kwame Karey had graduated from Hogwarts last year, and Theseus was taking his place as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain, so Newt doubted Sy'Nia really had anything to worry about.

On the last week of summer break, Newt fought where the brownie lived, although he never actually saw the brownie itself. There was a small mouse hole that went under the stairs, and when Newt laid down on the floor to peer inside, he found all the broken items that belonged to the house half fixed. Despite his curiosity, Newt let the brownie go to and from his mouse hole in peace. Every once in a while, one of the broken items would return to the house, fixed and looking better than ever.

* * *

 **September**

Leta was not on the Hogwarts Express.

Newt had boarded the train and pushed his way to their usual compartment, but she wasn't there. He greeted Darren, a fellow Second Year Hufflepuff, and asked if he had seen Leta, but Darren shook his head. Newt waited in an empty compartment for a while, Mittens roaming around the empty seats, hoping that Leta would find him. She didn't. At last, Newt got up and headed through the crowded train until he saw Sy'Nia. Mittens trailed behind him, pressing herself on Newt's legs whenever she could.

"Hello, Newt," she said. "Looking for Theseus?"

She pointed to a nearby compartment.

"What's wrong?" Theseus asked, the moment he saw Newt standing in the doorway. Newt shook his head, and Theseus scooted over to make room for Newt in the packed compartment.

Leta was also absent at the feast ,and on the first day of classes. She appeared, as if from thin air, on the second day of the semester, plopping into the empty seat beside Newt in Potions, as if he had been expecting to see her.

"What page are we supposed to be on?"

Newt blinked. For a moment, the world seemed to get smaller, to focus in on Leta.

"Leta, you're here," Newt said.

"Where else would I be?"

"You weren't on the train."

Leta, suddenly over Newt's questioning, peered over his shoulder to get the page number of his potions book and flipped her own book open.

"Of course I was," she said. "I was sick though, so I spent the whole trip in the lavatory."

"You weren't at the feast, or in classes yesterday."

"Still sick," Leta shrugged, as she began to put ingredients into her cauldron. "I've been in the Hospital Wing."

She didn't look as if she had been sick.

"You could have told me," said Newt, he had the urge not to look at her anymore. "That's what friends do."

Leta let out an annoyed huff. "Alright, I'm sorry."

Newt completely forgotten about the potions assignment. Instead, he sat in his stool, wanting to look at Leta, and not wanting to look at her. She buzzed around their table, making the potion – Newt couldn't even remember what it was supposed to be now – with ease. She had always been book at Potions. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her send him a funny look, and then she started to make his potion for him while hers brewed.

"You could have written me back." Newt got himself to mutter. "You ignored me all summer."

"My parents, they don't like you."

Newt thought he had been done caring who did or did not like him, according to the knot now forming in his stomach, he had apparently been wrong.

"I haven't met your parents."

Leta ignored his deflated tone. "Doesn't matter," she said. "You might be a Full-Blood, but your father was muggle born."

Newt's father was like Theseus. Loud, kind, brave, and well liked. Newt had never heard someone say something bad about him before, and wasn't sure what to say. Finally, he said, "Does that matter to you?"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

It was then that Leta pulled up the sleeves of her robes so that she could better stir her cauldron. Both arms were covered in bruises. Even on her dark skin they were clearly yellow and black. Newt reached out without thinking, as if to touch them softly in hopes that they would go away. Leta flinched back, and pulled her sleeves down over her arms.

"Your parents don't like you being friends with me that much?" Newt's voice was soft.

"Please," said Leta. "These have nothing to do with you."

Newt sat in silence for the rest of the class, as Leta finished first her own, and then his potion. He kept glancing at her covered arms, as if he could see the yellow and black markings through her robes.

"Newt." Leta's voice quivered, slightly. "Don't tell anyone, okay. As my friend, my best friend, don't tell anyone. Promise me, okay?"

Leta had asked him not to tell anyone, and Newt was young, so he didn't. He promised her.

* * *

 **October**

Transfigurations was one of Newt's favorite subjects. He enjoyed the half oval room, the idea of one day working with animals in class, and he enjoyed Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore always had a slight twinkle in his eye, as if he approved of a little mischief but wasn't allowed to admit it. Newt also enjoyed competing with Gwen Edwards, a Second Year Ravenclaw, over points in class. Gwen obviously enjoyed Transfigurations as well, and if Newt ever answered a question, Gwen would build onto his answer so well that she would earn points for her house. When Gwen performed a new spell, Newt performed it better and on an earlier try, earning Hufflepuff house points.

Last year, Gwen had taken the competition a little personally. She had sat on the opposite side of the stone classroom as him, and had always left the lesson either a little pink in the face from victory or red in the face from defeat.

This year however, she had surprised Newt by making a habit of sitting next to him in class and whispering "give me your best, Scamander" before the start of the period. Had Gwen ever spoke to him outside Transfigurations, he would almost have considered them friends.

"Nice try today, Scamander," Gwen said, pink from victory after Professor Dumbledore had ended the lesson. "But I-"

"Mr. Scamander, would you mind speaking with me, just for a moment."

Professor Dumbledore had never asked Newt to stay after class before. Gwen's pink cheeks turned red, and she left the classroom. Newt wondered if she would bother sitting by him next time they had Transfigurations.

Newt gathered his things and walked up to the front of the classroom. He suddenly felt as if he didn't know where to put his hands, or how to hold his arms.

"Very fine work today, very fine," Professor Dumbledore said. He had an air of calmness about him that didn't hold his usual hint of amusement. "It isn't your classwork, however, that I wish to speak to you about."

Newt found himself studying the floor. "What can I help you with, Professor?"

"You are aware, I am sure, that students do not start their Care of Magical Creatures studies until their third year."

"Yes, sir."

"However, Professor Kettleburn, is expecting to receive a baby hippogriff in January, and he asked me if I knew any student who might wish to give him an extra hand on Thursday nights with the creature. He has meetings in Hogsmeade on those evenings." Dumbledore's air of mischief was returning. "I was wondering if you would be interested."

Newt smiled, nodding eagerly. "My mother breeds hippogriffs."

Professor Dumbledore smiled. "I am aware. Should I inform Professor Kettleburn I have found someone?"

"Yes! Yes, that would be lovely."

* * *

 **November**

It was always easier to find Sy'Nia then it was to find his brother at the Gryffindor table. With her dark skin and her long mass of black hair pulled back in a million little braids, she was easier to notice than Theseus, and even though Theseus still hadn't gathered enough nerve to ask her out, Sy'Nia always seemed to know where Newt's brother was.

Before Newt even had to say a word, Sy'Nia pointed towards another part of the table and said, "Over there," in a cheerful voice.

"I can't believe I'm about to ask a Gryffindor for help," whispered Leta, as she trailed behind Newt.

"It's just Theseus," said Newt.

"Still."

They found Theseus around a study group that was debating whether Professor Binns would give them an extra time to finish an essay if they all promised to turn it into his office before Monday.

"It isn't as if he sleeps," said a boy. "He'll have time Sunday night to grade the essays then."

Theseus shot Newt a cheeky grin. "Don't listen to our study habits little brother, I don't want you getting any ideas."

"Wasn't planning on it," said Newt, returning Theseus's silly smile. "Leta and I were wondering if you wouldn't mind helping us get back into flying shape. We want to try out next year for our house Quidditch teams."

"Sure," Theseus said, "Let's start tomorrow. I have nothing better to do than teach members from other houses how to be good competition for my team."

"It sounds as if you need to finish an important essay," said Newt.

Theseus waved an airy hand. "Naw I don't. Just leave it to me, my friends, I'll get Professor Binns to give us two more weeks, or, if he is in a good mood, to forget the essay completely."

There was a chorus from the table.

"Here, here!"

"Our hero."

Satisfied, Leta led Newt towards an empty spot on the Slytherin table.

"Your brother seems quite full of himself," said Leta, but then seemed to catch herself. "It is very nice of him the offer to help us. He plays as a Beater, right?"

Newt nodded.

"I want to be a Beater, too," Leta continued. "Are you still thinking about being a Chaser?"

He nodded again.

"You'd make a good Chaser. You have fast reflexes in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Leta reached down and seemed to pull Mittens out of thin air. The cat purred and rubbed her face on Leta's cheek before jumping over the table to climb into Newt's lap. He scratched Mittens behind the ear.

"You could try out of Seeker, too," Leta continued. "You have the right build for it, and it would double your chances of making the team."

* * *

 **December**

"Are you excited to help Professor Kettleburn after the break?" Leta asked him.

They were studying in the library, trying to put the finishing details into their moon charts for Astronomy. Mittens was currently rolling on top of Newt's open copy of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ by Miranda Goshawk.

"I'm going to ask my mum for extra advice over the break." Newt's lips turned slightly up just at the thought of it.

Professor Dumbledore had thought to ask him, not Theseus, to help Professor Kettleburn. A fact that made Newt's chest feel warm every time he thought about it.

"You're going home for Christmas, then?"

The warm feeling fell away, replaced by the memory of Leta's bruised and battered arms back in September.

"Yes," Newt said. "Are you?"

"Yes," said Leta, and for the first time Newt could remember, it was her turn to have a hard time meeting his gaze. "I asked them if it would be easier for me to just stay at Hogwarts, but they insisted my staying at school would reflect badly on the family."

"You could always come to my house."

"No, no I couldn't."

"You could tell a teacher."

"I said no!"

The quietness of the library filled the space between them.

Leta suddenly perked up, a forced cheerfulness in her spin as she reached down and pulled something out of her bag.

"I got you something," she said, pushing a brown paper box towards Newt. "Happy Christmas."

Surprised by the gesture, Newt opened the box with slow but steady fingers to reveal a small collection of thick scrolls, and a rather sleek and handsome quill.

"I know how you get with your notes," Leta said. "And I thought you might like to keep a record of your time helping Professor Kettleburn with the baby hippogriff."

Newt wasn't sure what to say. No one outside his family had ever given him something before.

He settled for, "Thank you, Leta."

Which seemed to be the only response she wanted.


	3. Second Year - Part Two

**Second Year – Part Two**

 **January**

Professor Kettleburn's new baby hippogriff was a boy, and they called him Rushhook. Professor Kettleburn's office was on the first floor of the castle, with a backdoor that led out onto the grounds and had a good view of the lake. Newt kept his head nodding, pretending to agree with all of Kettleburn's instructions as the man buzzed around his cluttered office, placing things into a knapsack on his way out the door. Newt had never paid much attention to Kettleburn before today. He was one of the younger professors, in his forties, and he was missing his right hand from the elbow down. Currently, a long and twisted metal hook was acting as his missing arm, but Newt knew from Theseus's stories that Kettleburn changed the attachment daily.

"My meeting at Hogsmeade shouldn't take more than a few hours," Professor Kettleburn said. "I should be back before curfew. But if I am not, just stay in my office with Rushhook, and I will walk you to your dormitory when I return."

With one last _switch_ of his robes, Professor Kettleburn was gone.

Quietly, Newt walked over to the basket that sat on a large window ledge and peered down at the baby hippogriff. He was sleeping, curled up into a ball, with one stretched out reddish colored wing acting as a blanket. Newt knew the office was set at a temperature too cold for baby hippogriffs, which had not grown a thick downy layer of fathers to keep themselves warm yet, so he turned to the fireplace in the office and lit a new flame. Then, he set his bag down, so that Mittens could crawl out of it. The cat watched Newt as he started from one side of the room and worked his way to the other, cleaning up Professor Kettleburn's cluttered space. Hippogriffs, even baby ones, would not do well in a place where they didn't have a bit of running room.

Once the room was clean, Newt woke the hippogriff up and held out a bottle of warmed milk. The red hippogriff stretched and fed, as Newt ran a gentle hand through Rushhook's feathers, brushing them all into place. Once fed, Newt took Rushhook out of his basket and placed him on the floor. Rushhook galloped around the open floor for some time before he seemed to lose any energy. Newt laughed as the baby slid on the stone floor into a basket of yarn.

As Newt cleaned up the yarn, Mittens approached the less hyper Rushhook. Mittens was used to hippogriffs, but Newt kept an eye on Rushhook. It was important for hippogriffs to get use to the presence of other animals at a young age, or else they could grow up without enough social skills to one day join a flock. Rushhook and Mittens, who were currently about the same size, chased each other around the office and batted playful at each other's tails. Newt pulled out the parchment and quill Leta had given him and took some notes before drawing the scene in front of him.

Newt was just placing a sleeping Mittens back into his bag, and a tired Rushhook back into the basket, when Professor Kettleburn returned.

"You won't believe the news I heard while in town today," Kettleburn said, oblivious to how Newt had cleaned his entire office. "Rumor has it an oucu has been spotted in Europe. One of those has never been spotted outside India before."

"An oucu, sir?"

"Nasty, terrible creature," said Professor Kettleburn. "Wicked smart thing, an oucu wants to be human, so it - well, no reason to give you nightmares. Come, let me walk you to your dormitory."

* * *

 **February**

"He hasn't mentioned the oucu since that first night?" Leta whispered, as Newt placed another library book into her arms.

"No," Newt said, scanning the shelves for another title.

"Then the rumor was probably just a rumor," said Leta. "So why worry about it."

"Because he didn't want to tell me what an oucu was. If he thought it was just a rumor, he wouldn't care if I knew what it was or not."

Leta trailed behind Newt as he searched a new bookshelf. Newt took care of Rushhook every Thursday evening, and every Thursday evening he waited to hear Kettleburn say something new about the oucu, but he never did. It made Newt feel itchy, not knowing.

"You could ask your mom," Leta suggested.

"Tried that," Newt muttered.

They settled into their usual table, which sat near the back of the library by a large window that faced the Forbidden Forest. Splitting the large stack of books in half, Newt and Leta began skimming the pages for the work "oucu." After hours of searching, either of them had found anything. Frowning in defeat, Newt let Leta convince him to put the books away and spend the last few hours of their day playing wizard chess.

Placing his last book back where he found it, he caught a glimpse of Gwen's shinny hair.

"Hey, Gwen," Newt said.

She looked surprised, either by his sudden appearance or from him actually talking to her outside Transfigurations, Newt wasn't sure.

"Have you ever heard of an oucu?"

Gwen frown. When Gwen frowned, her whole face changed, not just the pull of her eyebrows, but she also winkled up her nose and pursed her mouth.

"Isn't that a nightmare creature?" she said. "I don't know much about them." She glanced around the row of library books. "I don't think you would find anything about them outside the restricted section."

Leta had a sour face on when he caught up to her outside the library.

"I didn't know you were friends with Gwen," she said.

Newt shrugged, his thoughts still on the oucu. "We're not, we just talk in Transfigurations."

* * *

 **March**

Sophia had, for the most part, ignored Newt's existence this year. Newt didn't mind. In fact, he rather preferred it that way. So when Sophia became angry in Potions class because she had somehow failed the lesson and had made nothing more than blue bubbling water, it took Newt quite by surprise when she dumped her cauldron over his head.

Newt, his skin burning from the warm water, fled the classroom before the professor could finish yelling out Sophia's detention.

Leta found him in the nearest bathroom, trying to somehow scrub his skin robes clean while staying fully dressed at the same time.

"This is the boy's bathroom," Newt said, angrily. Leta ignored him, poked her head out of the bathroom to say something to someone Newt couldn't see, then stepped back inside.

"Darren has run off to get you a change of clothes," Leta said. "Here."

She helped him take off his robe and began washing it in a sink as Newt tried to clean his sweater.

"I'm going to hex her," Leta muttered to herself. "She'll be in the hospital wing from now until next Wednesday. They won't even know it's me who did it."

"You're not going to hex her," Newt said.

But he loved her for that. For being fierce and unforgiving and a threat not to mess with.

"Why shouldn't I?" Leta said.

"It will only make things worse."

"When Theseus hears about this-"

"You aren't going to tell Theseus."

"He will still hear about it anyway."

Newt sighed and stared down at the sink. His hands were red and irritated, but he wouldn't have to go to the hospital wing.

"I just don't get why she hates me," he muttered, almost forgetting that Leta could hear him.

Leta wrung out his robe. "Sophia is a spoiled brat." Leta pasted Newt his bag. She had gathered his things for him from class. "She doesn't like you because she is a pampered person who doesn't understand anyone who is different from herself."

There was a knock on the door, and Darren came inside with a fresh set of school clothes for Newt.

"Sorry, mate," Darren said. "I don't know what in the name of Merlin came over Sophia. She has detention for the rest of the year."

Newt dressed in the new clothes, and skipped the rest of the day's lessons.

* * *

 **April**

Newt stayed after Defense Against the Dark Arts had ended and walked up to Professor Merrythought's desk.

"Yes, Mr. Scamander?" Professor Merrythought only briefly glanced up at him before returning to placing the scrolls into a neat pile.

"I was just wondering, Professor, if you knew what an oucu was."

Professor Merrythought stilled, and looked up at him carefully, her usually warm eyes were cold.

"Why the curiosity, Mr. Scamander?"

Newt did not know why, but he suddenly did not want to mention Professor Kettleburn. He didn't want there to be any reason to give Professor Kettleburn the idea of asking someone else to watch over Rushhook on Thursday evenings.

"I just heard one of my brother's friends mention one, is all."

Professor Merrythought squinted at him. "Which one of his friends?"

"I'm not sure."

Merrythought seemed to consider this for a moment, before letting it be. It was, after all, common knowledge that Theseus was very popular and Newton was not.

"It is a very nasty creature, Mr. Scamander," Professor Merrythought said. "But they live far away, I don't see why you would need to know anything else about them until your last year at Hogwarts."

* * *

 **May**

Newt and Leta were lucky in that they were both very good in different subjects, and both very good at teaching each other how to become better in the subjects they struggled in. Leta was very good at History of Magic, because of her family's long ling was Pure-Bloods, and she was, Newt believed, the only reason he ever passed that course. Leta was also very talented at Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy. During the last few weeks of school, she spent hours upon hours helping Newt study in the library without complaint. In return, Newt would sit with her for entire weekends outside by the lake going over his notes and helping her practice spells from subjects he usually did very well in, such as Transfigurations, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms. As end of year exams approached, Newt found himself feeling quite comfortable.

The only thought that loomed of Newt was the idea of Leta going home again.

"I'll be fine," she said cheerfully, as she chased a butterfly with her wand. They were sitting down by the lake, eating apples and pretending to study. "Trust me, I've learned how to handle my family. As long as you appear to be with them on every subject, you are treated like part of the family and with care."

"Remember when I told you about lemmings?" Newt asked.

Leta grinned. "Yes."

"You're starting to sound like one."

Leta laughed, airy and rich. "I do not sound like a rodent."

But that was not what Newt had meant.


	4. Third Year - Part One

**Third Year – Part One**

 **July**

Most of Newt's summer went by in a daze. He spent mornings helping his mother with the hippogriffs, afternoons wandering the grounds around his house in hopes of spotting a creature, and evenings with Theseus, passing a quaffle. In the quietest hours of the night, he would perch midway on the stairs and stare down into the dark first level of his house, trying to catch a glimpse of the brownie that was still living under their stairs, fixing broken items in the dead of night.

It was weeks before Newt spotted him. He had been sitting on the stairs, silently waiting, when a swish of a tail came in and out of view. Newt's heart lurched in his chest. He had not been expecting a tail. He had always been told that brownies looked like little people, but that was not the case at all. As the brownie peered around a cabinet in the kitchen, Newt realized that the brownie was more fox-like than anything else. Although hard to see in the dark, it looked to have multiple tails, to stand a little smaller than ferret, and had long ears that looked too big for its body. It must be the most elusive creature on the world, to have tricked everyone into thinking that it looked almost human like. It dawned on Newt that the brownie must know that he was there, watching. A creature that had stayed hidden and tricked wizards and witches for generations would not be seen by accident. The brownie either no longer cared about Newt's presence, or at least trusted Newt enough not to move from his spot on the stairs.

The brownie did not fix broken things with its paws, Newt discovered, as he studied the brownie throughout the summer. Instead, the brownie would cart the broken object into its den, sleep on the items, and when it woke up and stretched, the broken pieces would have magically fixed itself. Newt wondered if it was the thick fur that made the cunning creature magical. No wonder the creature avoided everyone, if people knew the magic held within the soft looking fur, every last brownie would have been hunted down so that wizards could sell lucky brownie scarves or hats. Humans were like that.

"You used to try more, you know," said Theseus one afternoon, after a particularly good shepherd's pie for dinner. "You used to care a little more."

"Care about what?" Newt asked, passing Theseus the quaffle and adjusting how high is broom was from the ground.

"What people think of you," said Theseus. "You used to care more."

Newt cared about what the brownie thought of him; that he was trusted enough to see the elusive creature. He cared that Mittens liked him enough to continue to follow him around the castle. He cared that Rushhook the hippogriff would still look happy to see him when Newt watched over him. But no, he no longer cared what most people thought of him. Most people found him annoying or odd, and their opinions were not going to have a large effect on Newt's life.

"I care what you think of me," Newt settled for.

Theseus passed the quaffle back to Newt. "It's fine not caring what some people think," he said. "More than fine. Just don't count off everyone, okay? Eventually there will be someone in your life you will need to impress."

It was Theseus's last year at Hogwarts, and every day closer to returning to school Theseus found another subject to share his "older brother perspective" on. And while Theseus became increasing more and more excited to return to school one last time, as captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and as one of the most liked students among both peers and teachers, New only became increasing more nervous for him.

Theseus was lined up to become an Auror after his last year. The thought made Newt's stomach squirm. Aurors were brave, Aurors were leaders, and Aurors were often dead.

* * *

 **August**

"Who is that cute girl waving at you?"

Newt looked up from his new copy of _Knowing Monsters_ , a textbook for the Care of Magical Creatures course that was added for all third years, to see what Theseus was asking about. Gwen Edwards was sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, with an older man Newt guest was her father, waving at him.

"That's Gwen," Newt answered, staring back down at his new book and waving back at Gwen without actually looking at her.

"And . . ." said Theseus.

"Ravenclaw in my year."

"And . . ."

With a frown, Newt tore his eyes away from the open page to study Theseus's oddly expressed face.

"And nothing, we have some classes together."

With a large and dramatic sigh, Theseus put his arm around Newt's shoulders, waved at Gwen and her father, and led Newt down the road of Diagon Ally.

"I love you, little brother, but you make it hard some days to believe that we are related."

With their parents both out of town for different conference meetings, Theseus had offered to take Newt with him to Diagon Ally so Newt could buy a set of new robs and his new textbooks before the summer ended. So far, they had run into Sy'Nia, Theseus's crush, Darren, a fellow Hufflepuff in Newt's year, and Professor Merrythought, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. To Newt's surprise, she was very pregnant.

"Oh yes!" Professor Merrythought said, delighted by Theseus's congratulations. "I am taking the whole year off, you know, just to be a mum. I'm very excited. Although I am sorry I won't be there for your last year, Theseus. Don't have such a face, Newton, I'll be back for your fourth year, don't worry."

She had declined, however, to mention who would be teaching the subject during her sabbatical.

There had also been no sign of Leta in Diagon Ally, which Newt found disappointing.

The Scamander brothers, finished with their shopping, and were double-checking their book lists outside Potage's Cauldron Shop when they spotted a newspaper someone had dropped on the ground. "Two Aurors Found Dead; Will Muggle War Continue To Encroach Into The Wizardly World?" was the title of the front page. It also had two only slightly moving pictures. Theseus tried to keep the mood light for the rest of the evening, but it was still Theseus's face Newt saw on the cover of the paper long after they had returned home, had dinner, cleaned out the hippogriff stables, and gone to bed.

* * *

 **September**

Newt had never noticed how pretty Leta was until she threw her arms around him when he boarded the Hogwarts Express, Mittens's cage smashed between them. She wore no bruises, and Newt wondered how she could act so much like her parents when around them that they actually believed that was who she truly was.

"Summer was so boring," Leta said, already reaching down to pick up Newt's dropped trunk. "I tried using a post office owl when we went into town to send you a letter, but my parents never let me out of their sight."

Leta's black hair was shining from the sunlight that was pouring in from the windows. Newt became momentary detracted by her, and ending up tripping over his feet as they pushed their way through the crowded train and found an empty compartment. Newt let Mittens out of her cage, which made Leta coo "Here Mitts, come say hello to Aunty Leta," before she turned back to Newt and asked, "Anyway, how was your summer?"

Newt and Leta were still updating each other on their summer lives by the time they had to separate into their houses for the welcome feast. Newt sat down beside Darren, who looked happier than usual to see him.

"Trying out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team this year?" Darren asked. "I hear they are looking for two new Chasers and a Keeper."

Newt shrugged, trying not to get his hopes up any higher than they were. "Theseus has been practicing with me."

"I wish my parents would let me fly a broom at home, I'm out of practice."

The feast went by almost painfully slowly. Newt had never been good at talking to multiple people at the same time, it became hard to read their tones and their expressions. Creatures were simple, their tones and expressions usually matched, although many humans didn't seem to notice the large range. People, though, their tones were often the opposite of their expressions, putting what they say up to interpretation.

The most interesting part of the welcome feast was when Head Master Dippet introduced Professor Merrythought's replacement for the year. The new professor was named Gilbert Gully, and he was surprisingly young looking for a professor. Professor Gully was short, but strong looking, and had his blond hair cut almost as if he wanted it in a square.

"Gilbert Gully, doesn't he usually work in the Minster, as an Auror?" Darren whispered.

Newt's heart sank slightly, his thoughts turning to Theseus. He caught Leta's eye from the Slytherin table and she gave him a small smile, as if trying to comfort him from far away.

The first lesson of the new school year was Care of Magical Creatures, and Newt could not have been more excited. He had even had a hard time getting to sleep the night before.

Leta frowned at him during breakfast.

"Slytherins have to wait to have the class tomorrow with the Gryffindors," she huffed. "Not. Fair."

Care of Magical Creatures was immediately Newt's favorite class, despite the fact that he did not get to share it with Leta. Professor Kettleburn did not teach a word about the Fire Lizards that they were studying that Newt did not already know from home, his own adventures, or the library, but it was nice to be with the creatures. Newt found himself quietly correcting Professor Kettleburn under his breath, and at one point Gwen turned towards Newt and said, "Okay, tell me more."

After Care of Magical Creatures, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had Transfigurations, then lunch, then Hufflepuff went down to the dungeons with the Slytherins for Potions, before Leta and Newt climb to the other side of the castle to find their new Ancient Runes classroom.

It was not until the end of the week did the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs get Defense Against the Dark Arts. Newt went into class with high expectations, having heard Leta the night before proclaim that this year was going to be amazing, as it all focused on defense against creatures.

Newt's expectations were quickly crushed when Professor Gully's first lesson focused on how to frighten a ghoul into moving out of its current living quarters. As September continued, Newt's usually very high grade in Defensive Against the Dark Arts started to drop rapidly. Leta told Newt to simply do the work Professor Gully gave them and keep his thoughts to himself, but Newt found that he did not have that in him.

Professor Gully taught them how to capture diricawls – a plump, fluffy-feathered and flightless bird that has the ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere as a means of escaping danger. In another lesson, Professor Gully asked them to turn in essays on the most effect ways to attack a chimera that is about the pounce.

On the last lesson before September ended, Professor Gully said kindly, "Mr. Scamander, a moment, please," when class was dismissed. Newt knew immediately what he was being held back for, and with a sigh he pulled his bag over his shoulder and walked up to Professor Gully's desk.

"Sorry, Professor, I am in a small hurry."

He was supposed to meet Leta for a quick dinner before going to the grounds to watch over Rushhook for the evening.

"Newt, take a seat." Professor Gully pulled out Newt's paper on what to do when you come across a chimera and placed it on the desk. It was marked D, for Dreadful. "Do you understand why you are earning failing grades in my class, Newt?"

Newt could almost hear Leta's voice in his head, warning him that he shouldn't start an argument with a new teacher so early in the year.

"Yes. You believe that the only type of encounter one can have with a chimera are ones that end in violence, and therefore the best way to behave around a chimera is the be violent and attack first." Newt found himself staring downward, at the desk, at the D on his essay, at the floor. "Which is something I completely disagree with. Politely. Sir."

Newt could feel Professor Gully's stare like a burn on his skin.

"This is a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, it is my job to get you to think defensively." Professor Gully's voice was slightly more tense than it had been before.

"A chimera, while considered in the monster class, is only put in that category because it is elusive, looks intimidating, and defense itself when bothered," said Newt.

"I think you are failing to grasp the fact that chimeras are actively hostile and aggressive creatures."

Because he was still looking down, Newt saw his knuckles turn white as his grip on the strap of his book bag became tighter.

"Perhaps around people who grew up learning to harm them on site," Newt said. "There have not been any major studies on how they behave when alone or even when surrounded by other creatures."

Professor Gully sighed. "The assignment was not about the hypothetical life of chimeras who live away from people. The assignment focused on what would be the most useful and practical way of handling a chimera if you encountered one."

"Have you ever seen a brownie in real life?"

"No, I cannot say that I have." Now Professor Gully sounded tired.

Newt glanced up at him. Gilbert Gully no longer looked patient, and yet he was still smiling slightly, although Newt couldn't tell if it was because he was trying to appear approachable or if he was amused by Newt's change in subject.

"There is one at my house," said Newt. "And one who lives under the floor of your office, if you later decide not to believe me and look for yourself. Brownies are known to be elusive, and most people think them to be humanoid. But they aren't. Their magic comes from their fur."

"I do not believe changing the subject can help your case, Newt."

"Have you ever seen a chimera, in real life?"

There was a brief pause as Professor Gully's smile faded.

"No, Newt, I have not."

"Then why do you believe so strongly in the idea that they can only be handled with aggression."

Gilbert Gully was suddenly very easy to read. He was mad, although Newt could not tell the root of the cause.

"It is the only way in history that has yet to be successful," said Gully.

"'Yet,' is the keyword, I think, in that sentence. Sir."

Professor Gully's voice rose in volume and in pitch. "Detention, Mr. Scamander, during which time I think you will find it useful to complete the homework assignment that was actually given to you. And five points for Hufflepuff. Now get out."

Newt was already heading out of the classroom.

"Of course, Sir. I truly am in a bit of a hurry."

* * *

 **October**

Rushhook was almost a year old by October, and he stood about as tall as a pony. Mittens purred and pressed onto the hippogriff's legs.

"How in the world could you spend so much time trying to find out what an oucu is when this magical beast is around?" Leta asked, carefully combing her fingers through Rushhook's fathers.

Newt fed Rushhook another ferret.

"Hm?" Newt asked, distracted.

Leta faked a sigh. "Still dreading tonight's detention too much to pay attention to me?"

Newt threw a dead ferret at her, and she laughed. A sound that was light and airy and rich.

* * *

 **November**

Newt had made the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team during tryouts, and was walking behind the other two team Chasers, Jon Bennett and Marissa Davis, back towards the castle after practice when he spotted Leta heading down towards Rushhook's enclosure. Saying goodnight to Jon and Marissa, Newt headed after Leta's disappearing figure as she pasted the enclosure and instead headed into the Forbidden Forest.

Newt did not mind breaking rules, especially if it was to help a friend, but to step into the Forbidden Forest not knowing what he was stepping into put something heavy into Newt's stomach.

"Leta?" he whispered. He pulled out his wand. " _Lumos_."

Leta appeared before him, she was staring off into the dark spaces between two trees in the distance. She didn't respond to him.

"Leta?" he asked quietly again. He stepped slightly in front of her and raised his wand towards the trees that had her attention. There was nothing.

"Sorry, Newt," said Leta, she sounded almost near tears. "I was coming to feed see Rushhook, and I thought, well, I thought I heard something."

She still stared off toward the spot between the trees. She was shacking slightly. Newt took her hand, and started to pull her back out of the Forbidden Forest.

"What did you hear?"

Leta did not answer until they were inside the warmth of the castle.

"I thought I heard you," she said quietly. "I thought I heard your voice, telling me to come over. I thought you needed help."

Newt did not let go of her shaking hand until she slipped into the Slytherin Common Room.

* * *

 **December**

Newt said goodnight to Leta in the Great Hall and headed towards the Hufflepuff common room, hoping to get his homework done early and turn in before Darren started complaining about the length of the current Care of Magical Creatures essay.

"He seems a bit shifty, to be honest. He never looks you in the eye. Never makes an effort to be a part of his class. Or even his house." Professor Gully's voice floated down the hallway. Newt froze, and looked up to see the slightly open door of the teacher's break room.

"Newt is a strong member of his house," came Professor Spruill's voice. "Always true to himself."

It was not hard for Newt to figure out that the teachers were talking about him. Most students rather enjoyed Gully's lessons. And Spruill had to defend him, she was the head of the Hufflepuff house.

"I think you will find that you must be careful with young Newt, if you wish to watch him continue growing into the bright man I see in his future," came the voice of Albus Dumbledore. "He finds this difficult."

Gully huffed. "Finds what difficult? Confrontation?"

"Confrontation, I think he does rather well at," said Dumbledore. "It's people, I believe, he struggles with."


	5. Third Year - Part Two

**Third Year – Part Two**

 **January**

Leta had no problem continuing to visit Rushhook with Newt a few evenings a week. She had either decided to forget about whatever had happened the night she had stepped into the Forbidden Forest, or she was pretending that it no longer bothered her. Newt brought Mitts with him to Quidditch practice, which happened twice a week, and after practice he and the black cat would walk down to the end of the grounds and talk to Rushhook before returning to the castle. Between these visits, and the visits with Leta, Newt saw the hippogriff at least every other day. Which he considered lucky, as Professor Kettleburn was giving Rushhook less attention as he was getting older.

It was the night that Rushhook had just started to practice gliding a few feet off the ground that Mittens suddenly sat up from her spot on Rushhook's fence, her ears pointed straight up, and focused at the Forbidden Forest.

"What's wrong, Mitts?" Newt asked.

Rushhook was still now, too. At the same time, both the cat and the hippogriff walked towards the section of the enclosure closest to the forest. Rushhook was obviously irritated, and after a while he gave an angry huff and trotted as far away from the forest as possible. Mittens, however, sprang toward into the trees. Newt dived after her. They were a few feet into the forest by the time Newt was able to scoop the cat into his arms.

"Wwwwwhhhhhh," came a faint whisper. "Aaaaaaaattttttttt."

Newt grabbed his wand and whispered " _Lumos_." There was nothing. Mittens's calm state in his arms gave Newt the impression of safety, for surely if there was something threatening near-by, the cat would have been acting out. And yet, Rushhook had been irritated. Newt's gut told him that he should turn around.

He stepped forward, deeper into the forest.

"Hello?" Newt asked softly into the quiet of the wood. He received no response.

For a while Newt poked around in the forest, always checking behind his back, and always leaving a trail of footsteps behind him so he wouldn't get lost. Teachers made the forest out to be a dark and sinister place, but at the moment it seemed like a normal wood. Mittens stayed calm in his arms the entire time.

Another whisper floated from far away. "Hhhhhhhhhh."

"Newt! Newt, are you down here!"

Leta's voice cut through the forest. With one last glance around the trees, Newt followed his steps out of the forest towards Rushhook's enclosure. Leta was rubbing the hippogriff's nose.

"There you are," she said. "I came to see if you were down here, I need some help with Transfigurations homework." She glanced behind Newt's shoulder. "Why were you in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Mitts ran in there," said Newt, but he could tell from her face that Leta did not believe him.

"Did you hear it?' Leta asked quietly, although no one was around to hear them. "The whispering."

Newt nodded, adjusting Mittens in his arms.

"Did it, you know, sound like you?"

Newt shook his head. "It didn't really sound like anything."

He didn't like the look in Leta's eyes. She had once been terrified of the whispers she had heard in the forest so many weeks ago. Now she seemed rather excited at the idea of hearing it again. Newt headed towards the castle, knowing that Leta would follow behind him.

"You needed help with Transfigurations?"

"Oh! Yes, that would be lovely."

* * *

 **February**

The Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that focused on laughing at a boggart was one of the only lessons where Newt actually agreed with everything Professor Gully taught. The problem had nothing to do with the lesson itself. The problem was Newt, and his boggart.

Newt was one of the last students to get a chance to face the creature, and when he approached it, he had not known what shape the boggart would take; but no one had been expecting the sudden dead body of Theseus Scamander to appear in the middle of the classroom, crumbled, broken, and bleeding.

The other Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students screamed and scattered to the corners of the classroom, Professor Gully swept in front of Newt and cast the boggart away, but Newt stood frozen, still staring at the spot his brother had momentary appeared dead right in front of him. Newt could not make out the words Professor Gully was saying, but his tone sounded as if he, too, had been surprised. Without listening to a word of Gully's directions, Newt turned and walked out of the classroom.

Darren found him after class sitting on a step in an empty corridor. Darren had Newt's bag and books. He sat beside Newt and pressed a chocolate bar into Newt's hand, telling him that Professor Gully had ordered Newt to eat it. Darren sat silently by Newt as they missed their next period. Leta found them still sitting on the step after classes had finished, and only then did Darren leave with a weak smile and awkward pat on Newt's shoulder.

"Gully didn't bother finding you himself?" Leta asked, much later when they were studying in their spot in the library. "He should have checked in with you."

Newt shook his head. "I'm glad he didn't."

"Boggarts will be on the final," Leta said. "How is it fair that you have to face _that_ when most students get large spiders or snakes."

But Newt felt like it was fair. Boggarts turned into what you fear the most, if a boggart turned into a large spider it would affect the person just the same as the dead body had affected Newt.

"Don't," said Leta. "I know that face, and no, facing a snake is not the same as seeing your dead brother's-,"

Newt winced.

"Sorry," Leta added softly, but then her voice became harsh again. "I hate Professor Gully."

"Don't hate him, Leta."

"Well someone should and Merlin knows you won't. I still can't believe he hasn't checked on you once today."

The worst part, however, was that by the time Newt made his way back to the Hufflepuff common room, the entire school had heard about the third year whose boggart was a dead boy.

Theseus hugged him during breakfast the next morning, clearly uncertain what to say. Newt said nothing.

* * *

 **March**

Newt was not sure the precise moment that he stepped over Professor Gully's last line, but one moment he was practicing the spell from the lesson, and the next moment Gully was asking him to stay after class.

"I want to show you something," Professor Gully said, and without a word walked out of the classroom. With only a moment of hesitation, Newt got up and followed him. They headed into the library, straight past every shelf, and into the restricted section. Newt had never been in the restricted section before. It was darker, as all the curtains had been closed to either keep the books in better condition or to keep some of the more emotional books quiet. It was also a little dusty, and every once in a while, a book would jump off its shelf, waiting for the librarian to give it attention and put it back into place. Newt had a feeling that many of the books were chained so that the cleanup was less of a hassle.

Professor Gully turned into a row of books, and after searching the titles for a brief moment, he pulled out a large grey hardcover titled _The Nightmare Collection_.

"You have ten minutes," said Gully. "Read."

Newt only hesitated for a moment, then he opened to a page at random. The book was made of collected stories of contact with magical creatures gone wrong. Newt skimmed a few stories. Some of the stories focused on drakes, some on dragons, others on chimeras, and fairies, trolls, and-

Newt froze. There it was. An oucu.

There was no picture, and Newt was only able to read "very intelligent creature who takes the body of people from studying their habits, including but not limited to" before Professor Gully took the book back.

"Ten minutes are up. Are you still under the impression that all nightmare class creatures are simply misunderstood, Mr. Scamander?"

Newt watched, an odd sense of helplessness as Gully placed the book back on the shelf.

"Maybe if given a few extra minutes I would be able to answer with supportive evidence," Newt said.

Professor Gully stared at him, blinked, then turned on his heel. "I give up. Get yourself killed Mr. Scamander playing with your monsters."

Newt silently followed the muttering professor out of the library.

* * *

 **April**

Hufflepuff Quidditch practice ended on a good note. The team captain, a Seeker names Jamie Cook, claimed that the May match against Slytherin was in the bag. Jon and Marissa, the other Chasers on the team, both clapped Newt hard on the back.

"I can't wait to kick their snake butts!" Jon said, on their way back up to the castle.

That was the moment Mittens, who had followed Newt down to the Quidditch Pitch, jumped out of Newt's arms and sprang down the hill towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Mitts!"

Newt dropped his broom and took off after his loyal cat.

"Newt come back!" Jon yelled.

"Newton Scamander!" yelled Marissa.

Without missing a beat Newt charged into the forest after Mittens. Just out of arms reach, Mitts remained in front, leading them deeper into the forest than Newt had even been. Reaching a fallen tree trunk, Mitts halted, and Newt almost tripped over her. Panting, he scooped her into his arms and pulled out his wand.

" _Lumos_."

Newt spun on the spot, but he couldn't see his footprints, and the sun had fallen. Clutching Mittens to his chest, Newt tried to remember if he had ever been taught or read about a spell that would help him figure out which direction was north. Nothing came to mind.

"Lllllllluuuuuuuuu," came a whisper. Newt spun around again, but there was nothing there. "Mmmmmmooooooosssssssss."

Lumos, the word Newt muttered every time he entered the forest, and almost every time he visited Rushhook.

"Are you, are you coping me?" Newt asked, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Watching me when I visit Rushhook?" Newt turned around again. "Coping my voice to get the attention of Leta and Mitts." Nothing appeared from the forest.

"Llllluuuuuummmmmooooosssssssss."

"Newton Scamander!"

Professor Gully appeared through the thick forest, his wand raised.

"Llluummoosss."

Gully's eyebrows rose with his wand and he turned to the source of the noise.

"An oucu?" Gully asked.

"Maybe," said Newt.

"If it hasn't pasted the whisper phrase it isn't much of a danger itself, it must be young," said Gully, pushing Newt in the direction that likely led back to the castle.

"Lluumooss." The whisper followed them to the edge of the forest.

"I think it would be best if you did not help Professor Kettleburn with his hippogriff, until the enclosure can be moved some distance from the forest, Mr. Scamander. Best not give an oucu a reason to become attached to you."

Newt felt no need to argue with that.

He glanced one last time towards the forest as Professor Gully led him out onto the grounds and up towards the castle, where his quidditch team was waiting for him. There was nothing. Whatever had been watching and studying him this year, Newt had a feeling that it didn't have much of a body for him to see.

"We were so worried," Jamie said, and she punched his arm hard before hugging him.

Professor Gully walked with the Quidditch team all the way back to their common room door.

"I think I should let you check out that book, Mr. Scamander, since you seem determined to be surrounded by magical creatures," said Professor Gully, after the rest of the team had disappeared into the Hufflepuff quarters. "Do you still consider me to be wrong on every subject that deals with creatures?"

"I think we both have a lot to learn," said Newt.

Professor Gully smiled.

* * *

 **May**

Professor Gully spent extra time working with Newt to get his grades back up. They practiced facing a boggart until Newt felt as if he saw the dead Theseus more than the real, live one. When end of term exams came, Newt passed.

After that, was graduation.

Leta sat beside Newt and his parents as they watched Theseus graduate with his class outside on the grounds beside the lake at Hogwarts. As Theseus partook in the tradition of casting a spell in the subject that belonged to his or her favorite teacher, Newt reached out and took Leta's hand, his eyes still watching Theseus on stage. Leta put her head on his shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about him, Newt," she said, as Theseus cast a patronus so strong that a blue whale momentary flew around the large sky. "Look at him, he is hero material. Theseus is going to be fine."


	6. Fourth Year

**Fourth Year**

 **July**

Professor Gully had given Newt a copy of _The Nightmare Collection_ , and a large section of Newt's summer was spent reading every page, making notes on the margins of the paper. With most of the creatures described in the book, there were multiple pictures and drawings to go along with each story.

But there was no picture of an oucu.

There were, however, a few very similar stories about the creature. Always seen as smart, the oucu wanted to be human, and would become attached to a person that lived close by to its habitat. The oucu would first start learning the voice and speaking patterns of the person, then it would start memorizing how the person stood, and eventually, it would attack the person and try to replace them in the human world. Sometimes, if the oucu was extremely smart, it would focus on more than one person at a time, and would then be let into houses by using the voice of a loved one to get someone to open the door. All the stories ended with a shadowed, slightly awkward looking copy of a person - the oucu in the human's form - standing over the dead - original – person.

Every once in a while, Newt would wake up in the middle of the night, thinking he was back in the Forbidden Forest, hearing the oucu whisper. Trying to steal his voice.

And yet . . .

Newt wanted to return to the forest. If an oucu could live there, and they did not usually live on this continent, there must be many other magical creatures living in the Forbidden Forest that one would not be able to find elsewhere.

* * *

 **August**

Theseus moved out of the house near the end of August. He had been excepted into the Auror training program and it would be starting in September. Newt's dad said it was like the muggle version of going to college. Gilbert Gully, who was no longer be a teacher at Hogwarts as Professor Merrythought would be returning, had returned to his own job as an Auror, and would be one of Theseus's mentors.

Sy'Nia, Theseus's new girlfriend, was a year younger and still had another year at Hogwarts. She often visited the house and played Quidditch with Newt, as Theseus's packed and repacked in his excitement to move out of the house.

"You're going easy on me," Newt said to her one evening, as she past him a quaffle without her usual force.

"'Course I am." She winked. "You play for another house, can't show you all my secrets."

* * *

 **September**

For the first time since Newt had started his studies at Hogwarts, more than one person was excited to see him board the Hogwarts Express.

Leta, who had a glow on her dark skin that made Newt's cheeks blush, hugged him tight when she saw him – as was their tradition. As they made their way to their usual empty compartment, Sy'Nia gave him a cheerful hello, Darren clapped Newt's shoulder and tried to start a conversation about Quidditch before being interrupted and distracted, and the seven members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team nearly pushed Leta away and tried to drag Newt into their compartment. Just as Newt got away, not wanting to ditch Leta, who he was very eager to see, Gwen accidentally tripped into him.

"Oh, hello Newt," Gwen said, turning red. "Sorry, I didn't see Henry's owl cage on the floor."

Leta had lost some of her glow by the time they reached their normal, empty, compartment.

"You've become quite popular." Leta had her arms crossed around her center and she was determinedly staring out the window.

In the quietness of the nearly empty compartment, Newt thought that was a very silly thing to say. He let Mittens out of her cage and tried to change the subject.

"How was your summer?"

"Does your team know who chummy you are with that Gryffindor Quidditch girl?"

"Sy'Nia?" Newt asked. "I assume so, they know she is seeing my brother."

"Darren only acts friendly when he wants to know about the Quidditch team," Leta continued. "Don't think for a second that he isn't just using you to try and get onto the team."

Newt wondered if this had anything to do with the fact that Leta had not made her own house team last year during tryouts.

"And don't even get me started on Gwen."

As far as Newt knew there was nothing wrong with Gwen. She was competitive, sure, but she was also bright, and not afraid to admit that she didn't always know the answer despite most people calling her the smartest witch of their year.

Leta moved from her place by the window to sit beside Newt, her leg touched his. Her voice was soft now.

"You aren't going to ditch me, right?" she asked. She bit her lip, looking worried.

"Leta, you're my closest friend," Newt said, very confused. "Why would I ditch you?"

She beamed at him and wrapped her arms around him so that her head was on his shoulder.

"You're my closest friend, too," she said.

* * *

 **October**

"Newt wait! You forgot your textbook."

Newt looked over his shoulder as he took another step and suddenly fell, getting stuck on a moving staircase that had a vanishing step. Gwen, giggling, took his arm and helped him free his foot. For reasons Newt could not understand, Gwen was as red in the face as he was, even though she had not just made a fool of herself. She handed him the textbook, and he slipped it into his bag with a thanks.

To Newt's surprise, she walked beside him as he continued his way to the library, where he was going to meet Leta. Gwen was very petite. Newt had never noticed that he stood almost a head taller than her until now. He glanced at her just as Gwen tugged on his sleeve and pulled him to a stop.

"Did you have any plans for the next trip to Hogsmeade?" she asked.

That had not been what Newt was expecting. "I don't think so, no."

Gwen's red cheeks returned. "Would you, I mean, I was just wondering, if you would like to go with me."

"Sure. But you don't have to do that, Leta and I are fine going by ourselves."

She blinked, then shook her head. Smiling, she turned, if possible, even redder. "No, Newt. I'm asking you out on a date."

"Oh."

Newt had never thought about Gwen like that. Outside classes Gwen did not usually talk to him. She was a member of the Hogwarts Newspaper Club, and therefore was very popular. For the first time ever, Newt realized that she was pretty.

"Why don't you think about it and let me know?" Gwen shifted from one foot to the other, as if she suddenly had somewhere she really needed to be. With one last smile, she turned on the spot and headed back down the corridor.

Newt watched her go, frozen. She had a very nice smile. Gwen Edwards, the brightest witch of their year, the popular girl, the pretty girl, had noticed him. She had blushed being around him. He had made Gwen Edwards nervous. Newt knew from Darren and the other boys in his dormitory that everyone had a crush on Gwen. Everyone wanted a date from Gwen, a smile from Gwen, a laugh from Gwen, a kiss from Gwen. But Gwen had never asked anyone out before. She had noticed Newt.

Smiling despite himself, his thoughts distracted, his heart up in the clouds, Newt blindly found Leta in the library. He sat down opposite her and could only hum a response when she greeted him.

Leta's face turned sour. "Gwen finally asked you out, didn't she?" Her voice was soft and quiet.

Newt nodded. In his dazed state, he barely registered Leta lean up and over the small table full of books and parchment until her face was inches from his. Gwen disappeared, and Leta came into sharp focus. Newt was suddenly very aware of her flowery smell. She lifted his chin with a hand and brushed her lips to his.

"There," she whispered, sitting back down as if nothing had happened. "I think that belonged to me."

"Leta-"

"We're friends, right?" Leta asked. "Just friends."

It was a very long time before Newt could answer.

"Yeah, just friends."

* * *

 **November**

It was not until the morning of the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw Quidditch game that Newt realized that he had never given Gwen an answer. He had been so distracted, between figuring out what Leta wanted from him, to having extra practices with the team for today's match, he had barely had enough time to continue his weekly visits to Rushhook and his quick steps into the Forbidden Forest. Let alone figure out his feelings about Gwen.

But as Newt sat at the Hufflepuff table, surrounded by his team, he felt his stomach clench as Gwen walked by, wearing Ravenclaw colors. She was very pretty.

"Gwen!" Newt said, standing up.

She turned, looking surprised. "Oh, hello Newt. Ready for Ravenclaw to take you down today?"

For a moment Newt could only stare at her, then he found himself looking at the floor. Gwen was pretty, Gwen was smart, Gwen was kind. He had ignored her for weeks after she had asked him out, and even now she had a friendly banter ready at the go.

"Wouldyoustillliketogotohogsmeadewithme?" Newt's face burst into flame.

Gwen beamed. "I'd like that, yes."

When Newt spotted her later in the crowd during the game, he almost dropped the quaffle.

* * *

 **December**

On his way to meet up with Gwen at the Great Hall – he wanted her to officially meet Rushhook – Newt found Leta sitting on one of the moving staircases. She had a crumpled piece of parchment in her hand, and as he sat down beside her she whipped her eyes.

Newt carefully touched her shoulder. "What's wrong."

Leta held up the crumbled piece of parchment. "My family doesn't want me to come home for Christmas." She used the sleeve of her robe to blow her nose. "I don't understand why they don't love me."

Newt did not meet Gwen at the Great Hall.

* * *

 **January**

"It's okay, Newt, really," said Gwen, she even smiled. "I knew what I was getting myself into."

Newt had stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas break, with Leta, and he had walked to Hogsmeade to meet the Hogwarts Express as the over students returned to school. Gwen had looked surprised to see him. He had tried writing her over the break, but she hadn't replied.

"I was on my way to meet you, promise, but then Leta was crying and-"

"I get it, really," said Gwen. "I knew that you and Leta were close, I just thought, well, never mind. Sometimes these things don't work. No harm done."

Gwen walked a little faster, and Newt let her go before walking back to the castle alone.

* * *

 **February**

Leta said goodnight and left Newt in the library to finish his last Astronomy chart. Mittens purred at his feet, as she made figure eights and pressed her fur to his ankles. Putting the finishing touches on his homework, Newt gathered his things and made his way through the library.

Newt froze. Gwen was sitting on one of the study tables, slowly kissing a Fifth Year Gryffindor boy named Henry, who worked on the newspaper with Gwen.

With a sudden empty feeling Newt could not explain, he made his way back to his dormitory.

"Sorry, mate," said Darren, reading the look on Newt's face as he climbed into bed. "She wasn't going to wait forever, you know."

* * *

 **March**

Gwen was still as friendly as ever in classes. She still sat by him in Transfigurations. She still smiled at him if they passed in the corridors. She even asked if he would mind helping her write an article about Rushhook now that he could fly for the Hogwarts newspaper. But something was gone. A twinkle in her eye when she spoke to him was missing. Their banter back and forth in Transfigurations was now slightly forced.

Leta was happier than usual. Newt suspected it had something to do with the fact that the long letter she sent to her parents had been answered, but when he asked her she said, "That's a part of it, yeah."

* * *

 **April**

With good weather completely returned, Newt found himself sneaking into the Forbidden Forest more often to take notes and sketch any creature that wandered into his path. Leta – and though he tried to stop it, Mittens – often came with him. They never went very far, and Newt made a point not to go looking for creatures, they would simply sit down and lean on a tree to do homework until a creature came up to them, asking to be sketched or watched. Newt made a point not to talk while by the Forbidden Forest, knowing that the oucu was around here, somewhere. But the whole year went by without any sign of the creature, and Newt was starting to feel safe in a forest he knew must be called Forbidden for a reason.

(Although, after a run in with the centaurs, he made a point to leave them be. They did not like humans in their forest, and Newt could respect that, even if it didn't stop him from returning.)

* * *

 **May**

When Newt returned to his dormitory after his last final exam, Mitts at his heels, the curtains around his bed had been drawn close. Newt frowned, he certainly had not done that. Carefully he pulled the certain back, and there, placed in the center of his bed, was a very large egg and a note.

Gently, Newt picked up the egg. It was oddly light, even though it was about the size of a quaffle and had a rough, scale like texture. The note read: _Would you might looking after this for me during the summer? Treat it with care._

Newt turned to Darren, who was packing up his truck for the train tomorrow.

"Has anyone been in here?"

"Sam and Jason packed their stuff up earlier," said Darren. "Why?"

"No reason," said Newt. He had the feeling the egg was a secret.

The egg gave a single quiver as he carefully packed it away.


	7. Fifth Year

**Fifth Year**

 **August**

Newt had been so excited to visit Theseus at the Ministry of Magic that he did not sleep very well the night before. He tossed and turned, tried counting hippogriffs, but not even waiting for the chance to catch a glimpse of the brownie that lived under the stairs helped him calm down enough to go to sleep. His parents had laughed at him during dinner, stating that he was far too excited for such a boring trip.

"You aren't going to see anything but the inside of an office," Newt's father had said. "It isn't as if you are going to catch a dark wizard on the streets."

Which Newt knew, but the knowledge did not dime his excitement. Theseus had promised to show Newt the Beast Division.

Newt's father dropped him off at Theseus's apartment the next morning, and together, the brothers used floo powder to enter the Ministry of Magic. It was not what Newt had been expecting, and Theseus laughed at his expression. Newt had known that the Ministry of Magic was underground, but it was darker that Newt had imagined, and it reminded him of sewers more than magic underground offices.

Theseus gave Newt a visitor badge, and then started to lead the way to the Auror Department. They packed themselves onto the already full elevator, and the elevator zoomed to the right and then up before letting out some of the occupants. The elevator flew up and then left, then down again, and more people left, until it was just Newt, Theseus, a stranger with a hat, and two people -a man and a woman - who had just walked into the elevator.

Newt, although he had never met them in real life, knew who they were immediately. They were Leta's parents, the Lestranges. Leta was the spitting image of the woman who stood beside Newt, ignoring his existence, and Leta had her father's nose. The Lestranges stood awkwardly still and composed as the elevator zoomed one way and then flew the next. Newt could not place the uneasy feeling in his stomach, and he knew that it did not come from the sensations caused by the elevator. He followed Theseus's lead, and did not speak while the Lestranges were there. Part of him wanted to greet them, to make them understand that their daughter was talented, smart, funny, and loyal. Another part of him wanted them to know that he knew how they treated her, that they had failed at keeping their actions towards Leta a secret.

Theseus's jaw was set like stone until the Lestranges left the elevator.

"Nasty people," said the stranger in the hat.

"Their daughter is kind enough," said Theseus. The answer surprised Newt. Theseus had never judged Leta for being in Slytherin, or for being a Lestrange, but it had always been obvious that the two never gotten along.

"Might seem nice enough now," said the stranger. "But that family has been a Pure-Blood for too long, they grow up into monsters. It's in their blood. Like a curse."

Theseus shrugged. "Curses can be broken."

Newt loved him for that.

* * *

 **September**

The beginning of school came with a nasty surprise. Newt, with Mitts at his heels and Leta practically skipping beside him in her excitement, made his way towards Rushhook's enclosure after the first day of lessons.

They found it empty.

"Rushhook is a solid flyer these days," said Leta. "Let's just wait a few minutes to see if he comes back."

Rushhook did not come back, and despite Leta's cheerfully telling newt that he was overthinking it, Newt knew that something was wrong. They waited a good two hours, before Newt was able to convince Leta that Rushhook wasn't coming.

The next day Newt had Care of Magical Creatures, and he dawdle after class until Professor Kettleburn was alone.

"How was your break, Mr. Scamander?" Professor Kettleburn asked, when he noticed that Newt had not followed the rest of his classmates back up to the castle for lunch.

"Where is Rushhook, sir?" Newt asked.

Professor Kettleburn became very busy at re-stacking a pile of rolled up parchments, notes and drawings that Newt's class had done during the lesson.

"I'm afraid, Newt, that Rushhook no longer lives at Hogwarts."

"Rushhook isn't old enough to be excepted into a flock yet, sir," said Newt. "My mother -"

"I know about your home life with hippogriffs, Newt, and I have never doubted your knowledge." Kettleburn still could not meet his eyes. "Rushhook has not joined a flock, he was simply passed on to another home for the next two years. Hogwarts was becoming rather crowded for him."

This did not make sense to Newt, either. Hogwarts had more than enough room to house multiple young hippogriffs.

"To be honest, I think Rushhook had gotten everything he could get by living here," Professor Kettleburn continued. "He is in better hands now."

Better hands.

Newt felt has if he had been slapped. Without another word, he turned towards the castle. Professor Kettleburn did not call after him. Newt had raised Rushhook. He had made sure that the hippogriff had been exercised, socialized, and cleaned. He had been there for Rushhook's first flight. To not even be aware that Rushhook was no longer at Hogwarts, after everything Newt had done, seemed like a betrayal.

But that was human, to do something that hurt others without taking their feelings into account. Maybe it wasn't Kettleburn's fault. Maybe Newt had put too much trust in other people being able to think about someone else. Humans were selfish creatures, a fact that Newt had somehow forgotten. A fact he would try hard not to forget again.

"He did what!" Leta exclaimed, when Newt found her at lunch. "And he didn't even tell you?"

Newt shrugged. "Rushhook was technically his, Kettleburn didn't owe me anything."

"You spent almost every day with that hippogriff! Which is more than Kettleburn ever did." Leta had not looked this angry since Sophia had spilled a potion on Newt in class years ago.

Newt did not defend Kettleburn again. It felt good to hear someone be as angry as he felt.

* * *

 **October**

It was October before Leta remembered that Newt had been given a mysterious egg to care for over the summer. The egg, which had been left on his bed with a note and no name, had grown almost twice in size over the last few months.

"It's huge," said Leta, holding it carefully as she sat down beside Newt in their usual library spot. "And really heavy."

Newt had very quickly grown accustom to the weight of the egg in his bag. He took it with him everywhere, wrapped in a warm blanket and stowed carefully in a side pocket on the inside of his book bag.

"It's dense," said Newt, "but it isn't always heavy. It changes, depending on its mood."

"The egg has moods?" Leta asked, her eyes trailed the almost scale like crust of the egg.

"Whatever is inside it seems to at least enjoy certain things over others," said Newt.

Leta raised a single perfect eyebrow. "How can you tell."

Newt dug through his stack of books and opened one at random. "If he likes something, he becomes light. If he doesn't, he becomes very heavy."

"You're joking."

"No."

Leta scowled. She carefully passed the egg across the table back to Newt. He wrapped it back into its blanket and placed it into the nest like pocket in his bag. The egg felt light in his hand.

"He likes the blanket, and he likes the sound of my voice, so if I keep it with me he stays happy and near," said Newt. "It's a win-win."

Leta reached over him to pull out her own random book. "Except you have to keep it hidden."

"I don't want anyone to try to steal it."

"Does it like Mitts?" asked Leta.

Newt frowned. "Yes. Sorry. But it was with Mitts all summer. You're new."

Leta did not seem to find that as an acceptable answer, and returned to her book.

They were trying to figure out what kind of egg it was. So far, they had had no luck. Newt knew that if he could identify what creature lived inside, that he would be better able to give the egg what it needed. He could not figure out why its owner had given it to him without any instructions. Unless the owner wanted it back before it hatched.

So far, Newt had discovered that the egg was happiest slightly above room temperature. It liked to be wrapped in its blanket and it seemed to enjoy the moments went Mittens would curl around it and sleep. It liked being talked to, and it liked to be carried around. Newt had once left it safe on his bed for a day over the summer to help his mother with the hippogriffs, and the egg hadn't forgiven him for days. It had stayed so heavy that Newt couldn't move it until Newt had promised to keep the egg close from then on. Newt didn't know if the egg was attached to him, or if it simply didn't like being alone as a natural response created so that it would not be attacked by predators.

"Do you know who might be able to help us?" Newt asked, his voice blended with the other hushed whispers in the library.

Leta did not look up from her book. She flipped a page.

"Don't ask Gwen."

Newt sighed. Gwen was at the top of the year, and seemed to know no amount of random information. Newt had not yet spoken to her since returning to Hogwarts, not even in Transfiguration lessons. He missed her friendship, and blamed himself for messing it up. As a Ravenclaw, Newt shared his common core lessons with Gwen, which made it so that some days he saw more of her than of Leta. He missed competing with her in Transfigurations, or having her listen with interest to his added notes during Care of Magical Creatures.

Gwen was currently still dating a boy named Henry, who was the year above them. Darren often told Newt that he was a fool for letting Gwen slip through his fingers.

But then there would be moments when Leta would smile at him, white teeth on dark skin, and Newt would forget what Gwen looked like.

"She can keep a secret," Newt said.

Leta looked up from her book. "Don't ask Gwen."

* * *

 **November**

Addie Newell, the Hufflepuff Keeper, quit.

The current team captain, a Seeker named Jaime Cook, set up new try outs within the hour of Addie's walk out. Jon and Marissa, the other two team Chasers, groaned when Jaime slapped the poster calling for opening try outs in the Hufflepuff common room. Ryan and Lucas, the team Beaters, hung their heads.

"What's the big deal?" Newt asked, not understanding his team's discomfort.

"Try outs are the worse," said Lucas.

"And just wait," added Ryan. "Jaime will want us there, you know, to make sure the new person gets along with everyone on the team."

"As long as they are a good Keeper, I don't care if I like them personally or not," said Marissa. "I'm here to win, not to make friends."

"We aren't going to find a brand-new Keeper that has enough skills to block Ravenclaw when we go against them," said Jon. "What's the point. Let's go Keeper-less."

"Plus the whole of the house will try out," said Ryan. "Makes for a long and boring day."

The next weekend, Ryan turned out to be right. About half of the house showed up to tryouts. Including Darren. Darren had been nicer and more outgoing towards Newt since open try outs had been announced. Newt had already warned him that he had no sway over who Jamie asked to join the team or not, but Darren had not seemed to take Newt seriously.

"Sure," Darren had winked. "Of course you don't."

Jaime ended up picking a surprisingly talented second year named Ashton Bee. Darren had never looked so sour. Newt had a feeling that Darren wouldn't talk to him for days.

After try outs, on his way back towards Hogwarts, he spotted Gwen sitting with Henry, building small snowmen. Making a split decision based off Leta's absence, he turned on his heel and headed towards her. She looked extremely surprised to see him, despite the fact that they shared half of their classes.

"I was wondering if you could help me?" Newt asked.

Gwen blinked, stared, then blinked again. She shook her head, as if trying to clear her brain, then said, "Sure. Of course, Newt. What do you need?"

Newt led her away from Henry, much to the boy's annoyance, and checked behind his shoulder before pulling out the egg from his bag.

"I'm assuming this not for common knowledge," said Gwen, automatically lowering her voice.

Newt nodded. "But I can't find out what kind of egg it is, you wouldn't happen to have any guesses, would you."

She studied the egg in his hand, careful not to touch it. "Well, look at it Newt! It looks rather obvious to me."

Newt traced his fingers over the scale like crust of the outer shell. There were many, many creatures that had scales, and almost all of those made scale like eggs. Researching in the library had only made Newt aware of the hundreds of different creatures that created eggs like his.

"I'm been looking in the library, but none of the egg descriptions in the books match exactly," said Newt.

Gwen rolled her eyes in the playful way she used to do in Transfigurations. "Of course not. No teacher is going to put a book in the school library about Drake eggs."

"You think it's a drake?" Newt tucked the egg carefully back away. "A non-flying dragon, drake."

"Well, look at it."

Later that night, while he and Leta played wizard chess in the Great Hall, Newt would tell her that he thought it was a drake egg. He did not mention Gwen.

* * *

 **December**

Professor Spruill, the head of Hufflepuff house, woke Newt up at one in the morning on a Wednesday. Newt's first reaction was to make sure the egg was tucked under his blanket, his second was to check to see if his sudden flinching had woken Mittens, and his third was to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Get dressed," said Professor Spruill, who Newt had never seen look so serious before. Tonight, she reminded Newt of a worried hen. "The other boys in the dormitory will pack up your trunk and we will send it to you later."

Which meant that Newt was going home, although it didn't explain why. Knowing that Darren was still upset about not getting on the Quidditch team, Newt made sure to tuck the egg under the arm of his robe as he dressed and left the dormitory.

"I'm being sent home?" Newt asked, as he stepped into the common room.

Professor Spruill nodded. "There was an accident."

The blood drained out of Newt's face. Theseus. Theseus had been in an accident.

Without a word, Newt fled from Professor Spruill and practically ran to the Slytherin house entrance. When Professor Spruill found him, she told him to wait a moment, then went inside and returned with Leta. Newt pulled Leta into a hug before she could even step all the way out into the corridor. Out of view from Professor Spruill, he passed Leta the egg.

"It's going to be okay Newt," Leta said. "It will be okay."

When Newt felt slightly calmer, he pulled away from Leta. He could see her struggle to make it look as if she wasn't hiding a very heavy egg between her bathrobe and her pajamas. He let Professor Spruill lead him away, towards the Headmaster's office.

"I'm here for you Newt," Leta called after him. "Whatever you need. I'm on it."

Professor Spruill was oddly quiet as they made their way towards the Headmaster's office, where Newt would be using floo powder to meet his parents at St. Mungo's hospital.

"Last I heard your brother was stable," said Professor Spruill tired. "He should be fine, but your parents want you home."

This did not cheer Newt up in the slightest.

Newt was halfway to St. Mungo's before he realized that he had left Mittens on his bed, asleep at Hogwarts, where she would be forgotten and alone over winter break. On the bright side, Newt reasoned with himself, he had seen the boggart form of Theseus dead or injured so many times, that surely he was partly prepared for the real thing. Yet when his parents led him to Theseus bed, Newt did not feel prepared.

* * *

 **January**

Newt had spent his winter break with Theseus, who was already back to full health and hated having his little brother trying to take care of him. Along with dealing with a sick Theseus, who had broken a few bones on an Auror assignment, and had been badly cursed, Newt was also worried about Mittens. His loyal cat had been left alone at Hogwarts all break. What if she hadn't been able to feed herself? What if she had wandered into the Forbidden Forest, looking for Newt, never to find her way out again? What if she couldn't get outside to eat some snow, would she be getting any water?

His worries, however, vanished as he stepped into the Great Hall, fresh off the Hogwarts Express, and saw Leta. She was holding a small black cat in her arms. Newt had never wanted to kiss someone as much as he wanted to kiss her then. He hugged her, instead.

* * *

 **February**

Ashton Bee, the newest member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, was extremely small. Dark skinned and dark eyed, the only way to spot him in a corridor full of people was to look for his cloud like puff of hair. Not only was he thin, he was also very short, and he looked younger in the face than almost all the first years. Most of the team called him by his last name, Bee, out of affection and because of his size. Despite his appearance, however, the second year was a reasonably talented Keeper, and Hufflepuff had yet to lose a match this year. Even so, Jamie made sure they had more practices now that a new member had joined half way into the season.

Leta had bonded with the mysterious egg over winter break. It now sat as light in her hands as it did in Newts. Leta said that having Mittens around over the break had helped.

"Has anyone asked for it back?" Leta asked one morning at breakfast, when Newt slumped down beside her, tired from morning Quidditch practice.

Newt shook his head, and reached over the table to scratch Mittens behind the ears. The cat purred.

"Well someone asked me about the egg today," said Leta.

Newt's eyebrows rose. His excitement boiled. The mystery was about to come to an end.

"Who?"

"Gwen," Leta said. "How does Gwen even know about the egg."

Months. Months had gone by since Newt had shown Gwen the egg, and she hadn't said a word. Now, out of the blue, she brings it up to Leta. Newt's excitement dissolved.

"She saw it in my book bag in Transfigurations once," said Newt, but it was obvious by Leta's arched eyebrow that she didn't believe him.

"Do you still like Gwen?"

Newt wanted to tell her no, that the only person he truly liked that way was her. That when someone mentioned how pretty Gwen was that it was Leta's face that came into view. That it wasn't Gwen's, but Leta's smiles that sent butterflies around his stomach. It wasn't sweet Gwen whose words and voice he wanted to waste days listening to, but Leta's firm, funny, and witting lyrics. He wanted to tell her that she had ruined him the day she had kissed him and told him that his kisses belonged to her.

"No," Newt said. "Gwen and I are barely friends these days."

Leta's deep, rich eyes, the ones Newt felt could read his every gesture, studied him long and hard.

"Good," she said. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. "Not good that you aren't friends, or course, but good that, you, you know, never mind."

Newt's heart soared.

* * *

 **March**

Mittens was missing.

"I'm sure she is fine," Leta told Newt.

But Mittens had never disappeared before. Unlike most of the cats that came with students to Hogwarts, Mittens usually stayed close to Newt's side.

"The last time I remember seeing her was when she followed me down to the Quidditch pitch," said Newt. He couldn't remember if she had followed him back up to the castle. "What if she is stuck somewhere, under one of the seats."

Leta led the way down to the pitch and helped him look under every seat in the stadium. The cat was nowhere to be found.

* * *

 **April**

When Newt returned to his dormitory after morning lessons, there was something in the middle of his bed.

"Mitts!" Newt flung the bed curtains aside, but it was not his cat. It was a small box, and a note.

He read the note first.

 _Dear Mr. Scamander,_

 _Thank you for looking over my egg, I prefer not to keep it in the company of my own creatures. As it will soon hatch, I have for the moment taken it back. Thank you for taking such wonderful care of it. Do not worry, I am sure this creature will return to your life._

Again, the note was not signed. Newt looked into his book bag. The egg had disappeared from its normal nesting spot sometime during morning classes without his notice. With both the egg gone, and Mitts still missing, Newt felt hollow in the empty dormitory. He reached for the box under the note and opened it. Piles of sweats and a book about magical creatures had been jammed inside. Newt felt as if this was a poor thank you.

* * *

 **May**

It was, to Newt's surprise, Professor Kettleburn that found Mittens. He tapped Newt's shoulder during dinner.

"You might want to come with me," Kettleburn said. Frowning, Newt and Leta got up and followed Professor Kettleburn out of the Great Hall and towards his office. He stopped in front of the door. "I don't know how to tell you this."

Newt felt as if he already knew. His eyes began to water. Leta took his hand.

Kettleburn cleared his throat. "I was walking close to the Forbidden Forest tonight when I found her. I'm afraid your cat, well, she traveled a little too close the forest."

Newt could not find his voice.

"Where is she?" Leta asked for him.

"The body is in my office," said Professor Kettleburn. "You don't have to see her, if you don't want to, Newt."

He did want to see her, Newt felt as if he owed her that.

"She isn't pretty," Kettleburn warned. "You must remember her as what she was."

Newt could only nod, and still holding Leta's hand, entered Kettleburn's office. Mittens's body was wrapped carefully in a blanket. Without opening the blanket, Newt scooped the small cat body into his arms. He started to cry.

"What did this?" Leta asked, again, for him.

Professor Kettleburn sighed. "It seems as if the oucu in our forest has not forgotten you, Newt."


	8. Sixth Year

**Sixth Year**

 **August**

Newt did not feel like himself. He no longer got excited when he spotted the brownie that lived under the stairs of his house. He stopped waking up at dawn to help his mother with the hippogriffs. He couldn't match his father's easy smile. Theseus even started coming home on weekends to try to cheer Newt up with games of one-on-one Quidditch and stories about the beasts he had seen while on his job. Despite all of this, however, Newt was determinedly unhappy. Mittens was gone. Dead. Likely lured into the Forbidden Forest because the oucu could copy his voice, and Mitts had though she had heard Newt. Newt had thought he was being careful enough. He had no longer taken Mittens on his trips to areas close to the forest. He had stopped going into the forest all together. Still, it hadn't helped. Mittens had died.

On top of that, Newt's egg had disappeared to its original owner. He felt hollow. The egg had likely hatched by now. He wondered if it really had been a drake.

He wished he could talk to Leta. She was the one person he currently wanted to see. She would have been a good distraction. The Lestrange family, however, kept Leta from talking to Newt over breaks. Her parents did not like the Scamanders, and Leta had admitted more than once that around her parents she acted as if she believed and agreed with the same things they did, to feel excepted and loved.

Newt had always thought that it must be very difficult, to act like you were a different person than the one you really were. Newt had always felt so comfortable in his own skin. It must be unnerving, unsettlingly in some way, to play as someone else. Newt thought it would drive him insane. Leta was very brave.

"The brave thing would be to stand up to her parents," said Theseus, when Newt voiced his thoughts one rainy Sunday afternoon.

"Not everyone has good parents," said Newt. "We're lucky."

His father offered to buy Newt a new creature to take with him to Hogwarts.

"An owl might be nice," He suggested. "That way you can send your own mail. Or maybe another companion animal? I know they don't like it when students bring anything other than cats or owls or toads, but I'm sure we could sneak in a loyal crup. Or how about a fwooper? It's not an owl but it is a bird, as long as you remember to reinforce the silencing charm monthly, I don't think anyone at Hogwarts would have a problem with that. Or you could even see if the brownie under our stairs wants to go with you. Although he is quite handy to have at home."

"I think the brownie is happy where it is, Da," said Newt. He did not want a new companion creature. He wanted Mitts. And he also didn't want to endanger another creature. If Mittens had been killed by the oucu that lived in the Forbidden Forest, then any other creature Newt bonded with might be in trouble of the same fate.

* * *

 **September**

As was their tradition, Leta met Newt on the Hogwarts Express. She hugged him so enthusiastically she momentary picked him up, which caused Newt to blush. He was quite a bit taller than Leta now, it seemed silly that she could so easily lift him.

Ignoring Leta's groans of protest, Newt made a quick stop into the compartments that held members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team to say hello. Jamie Cook had graduated from Hogwarts last year, and Newt knew from watching Theseus that whenever a new team captain was named, it never hurt to be on friendly terms with all the remaining members.

He saw Ashton Bee, a very short and small third year, first.

"I think I'll try to switch from Keeper to Seeker this year," said Bee. "We need a new Seeker with Jamie gone, and to be honest, I'm smaller than some of the first years on this train. I'd be a fast Seeker. It's easier to train a new Keeper, anyway."

Next Newt found the team beaters, Ryan and Lucas. They both gave him a short but kind hello. Lastly, Newt found the other two Chasers, Jon and Marissa, huddled together and already planning for the far-off game against Ravenclaw. Jon was the new team captain. To Newt's relief, Jon seemed very happy to see him, which set Newt's heart at rest.

"Are you done yet?" Leta pouted. "I want you all to myself for the rest of the trip."

Newt blushed, and he was glade that Leta was too focused on finding an empty compartment to notice.

* * *

 **October**

Darren had finally made the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. He was the new Keeper – Bee had tried out for Seeker and had gotten the position – and Newt found himself once again on Darren's friend list. Newt had never felt so liked. Between Leta and the six other members of the Quidditch team, Newt found himself distracted from Mittens's absence. It would only sneak up on him at night, when he still reached for Mitts, out of habit.

Leta hated Newt's new popularity. Being on the Quidditch team for years now had finally given Newt a place within his house. This was the first year being at Hogwarts that Newt felt more comfortable sitting at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall than sitting at the Slytherin table. Leta, to Newt's relief, would still sit by him, but he could tell she had liked things the way they used to be.

"Remember when Darren wouldn't talk to you for weeks because he didn't make it onto the team the first time and he blamed you?" Leta asked one morning, picking at a bread roll.

"Yes," said Newt. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Just reminding you who your real friends are."

Leta was the worst around Gwen, who had finally decided that she could talk to Newt in classes again. Leta would roll her eyes, huff, and even mutter about how she wished she could hex Gwen whenever the Ravenclaw girl spoke or smiled.

"Is Gwen still dating that Henry person?" Leta asked, after Gwen had waved at Newt in the library.

It was Newt's turn to shrug. "I'm really not sure. I guess so."

Leta scowled. "How disgusting. Does Henry know he is snogging a Mudblood?"

"Gwen is a half-blood."

Leta blinked. "No she isn't."

"Yes, she is," said Newt. "He father was a wizard, but she lives with her mother and a step-father, who happen to be muggles."

"You seem to really care about her personal life," Leta snarled.

Newt felt angry and tired. "You're the one acting as if blood status has any true meaning. Your parents aren't at Hogwarts, Leta, you don't have to practice their beliefs when they aren't testing you on them."

Leta deflated. "Maybe their beliefs stand on more solid ground than I used to think."

* * *

 **November**

"A moment, Mr. Scamander."

Sliding his things off the desk and into his book bag, Newt made his way up to Professor Dumbledore as the rest of his class went happily to lunch.

"Are you aware that you have been failing Transfigurations this year?" Professor Dumbledore asked calmly.

Newt's face burned. "Yes. Sir."

"I find it interesting, Mr. Scamander, that you received an Outstanding in Transfigurations in your O.W.L. and yet you are struggling this year," Dumbledore said. "Are you distracted in class?"

The truth was, Newt was distracted in all his lessons. His mind would wander to Mitts, or the egg that had vanished, or to Leta. Gwen would sometimes sit by him in class, and Newt wouldn't be able to concentrate. Instead his mind would return to the conversation he had had with Leta about the Ravenclaw girl, and how Leta had seemed to believe that Gwen was gross because she lived with two muggles.

"Very distracted, sir," Newt answered honestly. There was no point in trying to lie to Professor Dumbledore.

"May I suggest, for the time being, finding a tutor to help you keep focused. Gwen, I am sure, would do well at the challenge. Or consider seventh year students, if you would rather not work with a peer. I can put you in contact with some suitable students."

Newt did not want a tutor. He knew that if he could concentrate he would do fine in his lessons. "I will think about the suggestion, Professor."

"One more thing," Dumbledore said, as Newt turned for the door. "If you can return your grades up to their normal high level, I would be more than happy to reunite you with an old friend."

"An old friend?" Newt felt as if he already knew the answer.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Happy to have Newt's full attention at last. "That egg you cared for, it belonged to a friend of mine named Barry Alvin, who at the time couldn't care for it. The egg has now hatched. Were you to prove yourself as a top student by the end of the year, it would be my delight to suggest you as his summer apprentice, where you would study under him and visit your now hatched friend."

"What would I be the apprentice of?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Dragon Rehabilitation."

* * *

 **December**

Darren shook Newt awake. "Your girlfriend is asking for you."

"My what?"

Newt rubbed his eyes, put on a change of clothes, and staggered his way out of the Hufflepuff dormitory. Leta was waiting for him in the corridor.

"What time is it?" Newt asked.

Leta took his hand and started pulling him. Newt followed her blindly, still not awake enough to be fully aware of his surrounds. It was the night before Newt left to be home for the holidays, and he was tired and slightly sore from exams the day before.

"Two in the morning," said Leta.

Pushing away his confusion, Newt focused on the nice feeling of his hand in Leta's. Her skin was soft and warm, and her hand little but strong in his. They tiptoed through the castle and out onto the grounds. The cold wind blew snow at Newt. Leta whipped out her wand and cast a warming charm over them. Magic warmed Newt like a thick wool coat, and he followed Leta through the grounds until they were nearing the Forbidden Forest.

"Leta, I can't go in there anymore, the oucu."

Leta ignored him, and pulled him into the forest. Newt wondered how often Leta entered the forest without him. He had assumed that she didn't go in without him, and he had stayed away since the oucu had first started mimicking him. Obviously, Leta had continued entering the forest after he had stopped.

Newt was fully awake and alert now, both excited to be back in the forest and slightly creeped out by the idea that the oucu was already on his tail, learning how Newt moved and spoke. He pulled out his wand.

"Lumo-"

Leta stopped him before he could finish the spell, she motioned for him to put his wand away, and then pulled him to the forest floor. Newt crawled after her, until they were laying down in a massive bush, looking down into a small clearing. Leta put a finger to her lip, and then pointed towards the clearing. Newt waited.

Clear and made of what Newt thought looked like starlight, a small herd of dustdeer walked into the clearing below. Newt's breath caught in his throat. They were beautiful. There were two bucks, three females, and two babies. Dustdeer were named so because they were creatures that held the shape of deer, but in daylight it looked like they were made of misting dust. It was usually impossible to see one. But at night, they glowed like starlight. Their light shifting from one area of their body to the other. Dustdeer were extremely shy. They were also known as forest cleaners. They fed on bugs that killed trees with their long tongues.

They waited until the dustdeer wandered out of view before Newt and Leta headed back for the castle. They paused, their feet deep in the snow, so that Newt could cast a charm that would blow away their footprints.

Leta kissed his cheek.

"Happy Christmas, Newt."

* * *

 **January**

Newt wanted to kiss her.

His cheeks were pink from victory. Hufflepuff had just won their Quidditch game against Gryffindor with so many points that no matter what Slytherin did during the Quidditch Cup match they would never make up enough points to win the season. Hufflepuff had won the year. Little Ashton Bee was jumping up and down in excitement. The Hufflepuff house members rushed onto the field to cheer the team. Jon swung Ashton onto his shoulders. Darren was whooping and circling Newt in a primitive dance. Even Sophia, who had never warmed to Newt, gave him a bouncy hug before turning to Darren and throwing herself at him.

And Leta, Leta was running at Newt. Her white smile on her dark skin. The wind causing her hair to float slightly and frame her cunning face. She flung her arms around Newt's neck, and he lifted her off her feet to swing her around.

He had never felt such a sense of acceptance and belonging.

It would be many painful and lonely years until Newt felt the same sense of acceptance and belonging again. He would be fully grown into a man, he would be in a suitcase, surrounded by magical beasts, and he would be with a muggle.

But young Newt did not know this. All Newt knew was that in this moment, he was drunk off the feeling of being a part of something special, and he wanted to see how far he could take this feeling. So, he did something that over time would bruise his soul. He kissed Leta.

She froze for the smallest of moments, and then kissed him back. Shy but enthusiastic. When they pulled away from each other, they grinned at each other, hugged each other again, and Newt kissed her forehead as Leta wrapped her arms around him tight. The team and the Hufflepuff house continued to celebrate the victorious game around them.

Newt stood in the middle of the joyful chaos, Leta in his arms and tucked under his chin, and he beamed with happiness. In that moment, Newt believed more than ever that his kisses belonged to Leta Lestrange. A belief that would, over time, also bruise.

* * *

 **February**

In the end, Newt had turned to Gwen to help him get his grades back up to their normal level. He had been dreaming about the currently faceless Barry Alvin, Dragon Rehabilitation master, and all the adventures Newt could potentially have with him. He felt lighter just at the idea of seeing the hatched egg that he had carried around with him for a year. If Newt had to turn to Gwen to help him pass his classes, then that was what he had to do, even if Leta didn't like it.

"I heard about you and Leta," Gwen said one evening, as they were packing up to leave the library. "I'm happy for you."

Since Newt had kissed Leta, most of the school had been under the impression that the two were dating. Leta had made it clear to Newt that they were not. She had told him she didn't want dating to mess up their friendship, and yet every few days or so Leta would lean close to him and kiss him again, just for a second.

"I don't think Leta knows what she wants," Newt said. He felt comfortable that Gwen wouldn't release this information to the entire school.

"Oh," Gwen frowned. "That must be frustrating."

Newt nodded.

Gwen pulled Newt to a stop as they left the library. "Can I ask you something? I've caught Leta sneaking into the Forbidden Forest a couple of times this year. What is she doing? She could get hurt."

Newt had not known that Leta's visits into the Forbidden Forest were that numerous.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

If Leta was entering the Forbidden Forest regularly, the oucu might have forgotten about Newt and changed courses for Leta. His stomach turned. What if Mittens hadn't thought she heard Newt and had gone into the forest to find him. What if Newt's loyal cat had though she had heard Leta in the forest, instead.

* * *

 **March**

It was spring, and Leta was kissing him by the lake.

When she pulled away, Newt pointed to the space between them. "Leta, what are we?"

Leta put her hands behind her head and laid down in the grass, face towards the sun, eyes closed, a smile on her lips. "Do we have to do a _what_? Can't we just be a _we_?"

* * *

 **April**

With his grades back to normal, Leta suggested to Newt that he might have more time with her if he just studied by himself. He stopped studying with Gwen the next day. The Ravenclaw girl didn't seem surprised.

It was the Hufflepuff Quidditch team that took it personally when Newt – focused on Leta's white smile – lost track of time and came to practice late.

"What yourself, Scamander," said Jon. "You're a good Chaser, but you aren't going to stay that way without work."

* * *

 **May**

By the end of the school year, the sense of belonging Newt had felt was slipping away. He decided he didn't mind it too much. Not as long as Leta kept holding his hand. She was, after all, the person who had given him a sense of belonging first.


End file.
